Dozens more are guarding the US embassy, and a 150-Marine rapid-reaction force has been stationed aboard warships off Liberia.
Over the weekend, the US military flew 32 sick Marines -- most from the quick-reaction force -- and one sailor from the USS Iwo Jima warship to medical centers in Germany and the US, the US European Command said in a statement.
Doctors confirmed at least 12 of the Marines contracted malaria, while test results were pending on the 21 remaining patients.
The quick reaction force was briefly deployed at a main airport outside Monrovia in August.
US officials said that as a precaution, movements of Marines ashore in Liberia from the Iwo Jima and two other US Navy ships off the coast were being limited.
Malaria, a mosquito-borne disease, infects 300 million people a year in Africa.
On Aug. 18, Liberia's government and rebels signed a peace deal arranging a power-sharing government to be installed on Oct. 14, leading to democratic elections in 2005.



