Key facts
- An American-backed Ebola quarantine center is reportedly operational in Kenya, despite a court ban.
- Activists accuse Kenyan authorities of violating the court order.
- Seven American staff from Samaritan's Purse are confirmed to be quarantined in Kenya.
- The facility is reportedly located at Laikipia Air Base.
- The quarantine is for individuals evacuated from Congo due to an Ebola outbreak.
- Kenyan President William Ruto has defended the facility's establishment.
Seven American aid workers who had been in Congo to fight the Ebola outbreak are quarantining at a new isolation facility in Kenya after the US government introduced travel restrictions, the head of a US charity employing them told Reuters. The aid workers are the first known people to quarantine at the facility, which has sparked opposition in Kenya and is at the heart of a legal case where a court ordered work suspended. Construction continued, however, according to US officials and satellite imagery.
Washington’s new policy states American citizens returning from the Democratic Republic of the Congo must spend three weeks in a third country before entering the United States. The US government is building the 50-bed bio-isolation unit on an air force base in central Kenya for asymptomatic Americans exposed to the virus. Many Kenyans are angered at what they see as the US offloading the health risk such patients pose.
Last month, Kenya’s health minister announced an immediate halt to the facility’s construction after he was found in contempt of court for failing to observe the order to halt work pending a final ruling. "Samaritan’s Purse has seven American Disaster Assistance Response Team staff members there," Franklin Graham, president and CEO of Samaritan’s Purse, told Reuters. "None of them have any symptoms, but they are being quarantined by the Kenyan government for 21 days."
A US state department official told Reuters a group of asymptomatic Americans who had served on the frontlines of the Ebola response had "voluntarily moved to the Kenya facility for precautionary monitoring and isolation." The official added that the decision was taken "strictly out of an abundance of caution." Kenyan health ministry officials did not immediately respond to calls or requests for comment. Another source familiar with the matter said the group arrived on Monday and were sleeping in army cots in tents. Some had treated Ebola patients, while others had carried out construction work. Kenyan authorities are not allowing the group to leave the facility.