US to withdraw most of its troops fighting Ebola in Africa

A health worker injects a woman with an Ebola vaccine during a trial in Monrovia, February 2, 2015. [Photo/Agencies]

WASHINGTON - President Barack Obama is set to announce the United States will withdraw most of the American troops sent to West Africa to battle the Ebola epidemic, the Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday.

It quoted US officials as saying that over the coming weeks, Washington would pull out most of the 1,300 US forces currently working in Liberia and Senegal, where officials believe the crisis has largely been contained.

The White House had no immediate comment on the report.

Nearly 9,000 people have died in the epidemic that began in December 2013, according to the World Health Organization.