President Obama spoke on the phone with the leaders of Liberia and Sierra Leone about the ongoing Ebola outbreaks in their West African nations Thursday.
According to a readout of the calls from White House, Obama spoke separately with President of Liberia Ellen Johnson Sirleaf and President of Sierra Leone Ernest Bai Koroma.
“In his conversations with both leaders, the President underscored the commitment of the United States to work with Liberia, Sierra Leone, and other international partners to contain the outbreak and expressed his condolences for the lives lost,” the readout said. “The leaders discussed ongoing mitigation measures, including those directed through the Monrovia-based U.S. Disaster Assistance Response Team and deployed personnel in both Liberia and Sierra Leone from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.”
To date, more than 1,000 people have died in West Africa due to Ebola.
Sirleaf and Koroma did not attend the Obama administration’s U.S.-Africa Summit in order to deal with the outbreaks. According to the White House Obama said that while the pair were missed he “appreciated” their “decisions to forgo last week’s U.S.-Africa Leaders Summit in Washington, D.C. to tend to the outbreak.”
Obama is currently on vacation in Martha’s Vineyard.
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