The United Nations has now set a goal of containing the epidemic within six to nine months. Speaking to NBC’s “Meet the Press,” President Obama said the U.S. military will play a role in the international response.

President Obama: “We’re going to have to get U.S. military assets just to set up, for example, isolation units and equipment there to provide security for public health workers surging from around the world. If we do that, then it’s still going to be months before this problem is controllable in Africa, but it shouldn’t reach our shores. … If we don’t make that effort now and this spreads, not just through Africa, but other parts of the world, there is the prospect then that the virus mutates, it becomes more easily transmittable, and then it could be a serious danger to the United States.”