U.S. Designates 35 Hospitals Capable of Ebola Treatment

The U.S. has taken the precautionary measure of designating 35 American hospitals as being able to care for Ebola patients, should any more people infected with the disease come to the U.S.

The hospitals, designated by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, have the necessary quarantine units and staff needed to treat an Ebola patient. Additionally, they are located in cities where passengers from West Africa would be flying, including Washington D.C., New York, San Francisco, Minneapolis and Chicago.

The CDC has reportedly spent over a month deciding which hospitals are up to the daunting task of treating an Ebola patient, who must remain in complete isolation while showing symptoms of the virus.

The Doctors Without Borders humanitarian group, which has been working in West Africa to help control the virus, warned in a statement Tuesday that the international response to the epidemic continues to be too slow, despite President Barack Obama's decision to send troops into West Africa to help contain the virus.

The French-based aid group criticized other countries for "failing to adapt to the outbreak after failing to respond quickly enough," as well as forcing many people local to West Africa to do hands-on work in treating for Ebola patients.

"It is extremely disappointing that states with biological-disaster response capacities have chosen not to utilize them," Dr. Joanne Liu, international president of Doctors Without Borders, said in a Tuesday statement. "How is it that the international community has left the response to Ebola, now a transnational threat, to doctors, nurses and charity workers?"