Texas Republican: ‘No better place’ than Fort Sam Houston for Ebola training

Rep. Lamar Smith (R-Texas) said that Fort Sam Houston was an ideal location to train members of the military for the U.S. domestic response to Ebola.

The Defense Department announced Sunday that the U.S. military is preparing a 30-person team to respond to Ebola cases in the U.S. The service members will be sent to Fort Sam Houston, an Army medical training facility, for seven days. The team will be made up of 20 critical care nurses, five doctors specializing in infectious diseases and five specialists in infectious disease protocol training.

{mosads}”Given its reputation as a premier Army medical training facility, I can think of no better place to assemble this team than Fort Sam Houston,” Smith said in a statement.

Smith further called on the Obama administration to implement a travel ban on West African countries most afflicted by the Ebola outbreak.

“This is truly a case where an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure,” Smith said.