The Obama administration announced on Tuesday a major increase in the United States' response to the deadly Ebola outbreak in West Africa that has now become an epidemic of unprecedented proportions.

White House statements confirmed that the U.S. military will lead the medical response in the region, in partnership with the United Nations and other international parties including the governments of the countries affecte, Fox News reported.

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Obama said they will send troops, additional health workers, materials for building health care facilities, and medical supplies to West Africa. This is in response to appeals from regional aid organizations and state leaders for heightened U.S. efforts to combat the virus that has so far claimed 2,400 lives.

The U.S. president also launched a joint command center in Liberia for the coordination of international relief efforts and a new training facility to prepare more local health workers to handle the Ebola patients.

The U.S. is preparing to send 3,000 military personnel in the region as the president calls on the Congress to approve additional funding in support of the humanitarian crisis, the report added.

Funds worth US$500 million are being redirected from overseas contingency operations to shore up humanitarian efforts in West Africa and Iraq, according to unnamed White House officials who spoke to The Associated Press.

The number of Ebola cases is increasing exponentially, the World Health Organization (WHO) said. Regions in Sierra Leone, Guinea and Liberia are the hardest hit, with the outbreak reportedly overwhelming local hospitals and clinics.

WHO director-general Margaret Chan said Liberia is no longer capable of responding to the growing number of patients. The outbreak threatens to expand to neighboring countries with new cases in Senegal and Nigeria being reported, CNN stated.

Speaking after an in-person briefing with the staff at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, President Obama said that the world looks to America to lead the response to what WHO considers a "dire emergency" of unprecedented human suffering.

Obama, however, clarified that the chances of a having similar outbreak in the United States is minimal, the report said.

TagsEbola outbreak, West Africa, us military, WHO, epidemic