Prime Minister Tony Abbott has finally listened to reason on one subject.  Under much pressure - especially from the United States and UK - the Abbott government is expected to announce that it will assist Australian volunteers to go to fight the West African Ebola Epidemic, according to a report from Fairfax Media.

Prior to this, the Abbott government had offered cash, but not much else.  Now, it could be hundreds of Aussies who will manage a British field hospital in Sierra Leone.

Abbott’s main sticking point has apparently been addressed.  Any Australians who might get sick will be evacuated to Britain or Germany for treatment.  Healthcare workers have been disproportionately sickened and killed in this epidemic, because the Ebola virus is transferred from person to person via bodily fluids, the kinds of things that doctors and nurses deal with.

The Australian Medical Association has said that many doctors are willing and able to assist, and the Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation says more than 350 Australian nurses have volunteered to treat patients in West Africa.

At least 13,567 people are known to have contracted the Ebola virus in the latest outbreak, and 4,951 have died, according to the latest data from the UN World Health Organization.