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President Obama on Tuesday called the Ebola virus an epidemic unlike any the world has seen, and he pledged to ramp up the U.S. response while calling on other countries and charities to join in and act urgently.

The virus is spreading faster and exponentially, Obama told doctors, nurses and researchers at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention here.

If the outbreak is not stopped now, we could be looking at hundreds of thousands of people affected, he said, contending that there will be serious security implications beyond the affected nations in West Africa.

With that risk in mind, Obama said he is ordering the military to set up a joint force headquarters in Liberia to coordinate international relief, help build 17 new Ebola treatment units and support medical experts flooding the region.

The effort will involve an estimated 3,000 U.S. military personnel, according to the White House, and military medical staff will begin training 500 healthcare providers a week to care for patients and prevent transmission of the virus.

The timing of the U.S. response, months after the outbreak started and well after it raged across West Africa, puts pressure on the administration to act on its pledge as soon as possible, experts warned.

Laurie Garrett, a global health and infectious diseases expert at the Council on Foreign Relations, expressed cautious optimism about Obamas plan. She called it a game-changing start that could rally other international partners to increase their involvement. But she worried it could take weeks for the resources to be in place, and longer to train and organize the needed brigade of healthcare workers from around the world.

Right now, the virus is in charge. Its spreading far faster than any reaction from international players, she said. To get ahead of the virus, we need to have a massive presence on the ground yesterday.

Noting that the U.S. has spent more than $100 million on equipment, logistics and support for community health workers in the region, advisors to the president contended that his timing is appropriate.

The new assistance comes as the need grows, White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest insisted.

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Obama ramping up U.S. response in Ebola outbreak