Ebola Fought on Colonial-Era Lines by Big Powers in West Africa

U.S. President Barack Obama has agreed with the leaders of France and the U.K. to divide some responsibilities for fighting the Ebola outbreak in West Africa along colonial-era lines.

Under the plan, France and the U.K. are taking the lead in providing hospital beds and other aid to their former colonies Guinea, known as French Guinea until its independence in 1958, and Sierra Leone, which began as a colony of freed British slaves. The U.S. is focusing on Liberia, the country established by freed American slaves that now has the most people infected with the highly contagious disease.