U.S. troops returning from Ebola mission to be isolated in Virginia

WASHINGTON -- The Pentagon says about 80 troops returning from the Ebola mission in Africa will arrive Thursday in Virginia and be isolated for 21 days at Joint Base Langley-Eustis.

Rear Admiral John Kirby, the Pentagon press secretary, says they will arrive around noon and be housed in buildings in a secluded area on the west side. He says none of the service members are showing any symptoms of Ebola.

Langley and four other U.S. bases are designated as locations where troops returning from the Ebola mission could be housed while they undergo medical monitoring for three weeks.

The 51 airmen, 27 sailors, four Marines and two soldiers will be able to communicate by phone and computer with their families.

The U.S. military has said it is scaling back its planned Ebola response deployments to Liberia from 4,000 troops to 3,000 because there are a greater-than-expected number of contractors available in Liberia to provide support like construction work.