APG Welcomes Ebola Testing Team Home from Liberia

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A group of soldier-scientists was greeted with a welcome home ceremony at Aberdeen Proving Ground Monday after a mission to combat Ebola in Liberia.

The team from Aberdeen included 22 biochemists, microbiologists and lab technicians who ran six Ebola testing centers, according to WBAL.

They tested more than 4,500 Ebola samples during their four-month deployment, according to the Associated Press.

People who previously had to wait days were able to find out within hours if they had Ebola, The Baltimore Sun reported.

Before returning to Aberdeen, the soldiers spent 21 days in quarantine in Virginia, where they had their temperatures taken frequently to ensure they had not contracted the illness, according to WNEW.

Col. Patrick M. Garman, who was the commander of the unit operating the 1st American Medical Laboratory, said the Liberians were ”grateful” for the help coming from around the world.

“The Liberian people….want their country to heal and they are grateful the U.S. Army is helping,” Garman said in January.

“This deployment has been fulfilling in a number of ways, chief among them is that we are not only helping to end the Ebola epidemic but we are also building some infrastructure through Ebola treatment units, labs and healthcare worker training that will help the Liberians keep it from coming back,” Garmn said.