The frustrating summer for USA Basketball continues.
Two weeks after Paul George suffered a horrific leg injury, Team USA announced the cancellation of a trip to Senegal over concerns of the outbreak of the Ebola virus.
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USA Basketball Federation chairman Jerry Colangelo made the announcement Friday, according to AFP via Yahoo! Sports. The team had been scheduled to travel to Africa on Aug. 27 with a day of basketball clinics, tours and other functions in Dakar, the capital of Senegal.
"Considering this unprecedented outbreak, USA Basketball has decided to cancel our August 27 scheduled visit to Senegal," Colangelo said. "I speak for everyone at USA Basketball when I say we are extremely disappointed that we will not be able to visit Senegal.
"We will look for opportunities in the future to work with and support the Senegalese national team."
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Senegal is not one of the countries that has reported cases of the deadly virus, AFP reports, but its proximity to Guinea, where cases involving Ebola have been reported, led to the cancellation of travel plans.
According to AFP, the medical charity MSF reported Friday that the virus currently is moving faster than authorities can handle.
A day earlier, the World Health Organization said the scale of the epidemic "had been vastly underrated" and that "extraordinary measures" were required if authorities hope to contain the disease.
The UN reported the death toll at 1,145 - the worst outbreak in four decades.
The U.S. team's stop in Dakar was to follow an exhibition game against Slovenia on Aug. 26 on Spain's Gran Canaria Island. The U.S. opens its FIBA World Cup campaign against Finland in Bilbao, Spain, on Aug. 30.
Besides the injury to George, Team USA also has had to deal with the withdrawals of NBA stars Kevin Durant, Kevin Love, Blake Griffin, LaMarcus Aldridge and Russell Westbrook.
The U.S. will earn an automatic bid into the 2016 Summer Olympics with a win in the World Cup. If the U.S. fails to win, then it must earn a bid in the summer of 2015.
Do you think Team USA still can win the FIBA World Cup? Comment below or tell us @SportsWN.
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