Ebola Czar Tapped to Fight Epidemic

Secretary of State John Kerry has appointed Nancy Powell, the former ambassador to India, as head of the State Department’s Ebola Coordination Unit, leading the effort to build a coalition to control the epidemic. She will coordinate “outreach to international partners, including foreign governments, to ensure a speedy and truly global response to this crisis,” spokeswoman Jen Psaki said. The appointment comes on the heels of President Obama’s announcement last week that the United States will devote significant new resources toward curbing the spread of the disease in West Africa. He called the epidemic a national-security priority. Powell resigned as ambassador to India in March. She previously served as State’s senior coordinator for avian influenza. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently predicted a worst-case scenario of as many as 1.4 million Ebola cases by January.