A court in Kenya on Friday blocked the government from signing off on a deal with the US to establish a quarantine facility for Americans exposed to Ebola.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said at a cabinet meeting earlier this week that the US “cannot and will not allow” any cases of Ebola to enter the country.
During the 2014 to 2016 Ebola outbreak in West Africa, several US citizens who tested positive for Ebola were treated on American soil.
The US proposal this time to set up a quarantine facility in Kenya prompted backlash from medical workers because there aren’t any cases of the virus that have been confirmed so far in the country.
“Kenya is a sovereign republic, not a geopolitical isolation ward,” Davji Bhimji Atellah, the chief executive officer at Kenya Medical Practitioners, Pharmacists and Dentists Union, said on X.
What do we know about the Ebola outbreak?
The current outbreak is centered in the northeastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), in a war-torn area that borders Uganda and South Sudan. Uganda closed its border this week after several cases were confirmed and one death was reported in the capital, Kampala.
In the DRC,there are more than 1,000 suspected cases. The disease is believed to have led to the deaths of at least 246 people, according to the latest data from the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Ebola spreads between people through contact with the bodily fluids of an infected person or contaminated objects.
What is the US plan to set up a quarantine facility in Kenya?
Multiple media outlets reported earlier this week that the US was planning to send Americans who are exposed to Ebola while abroad to a new facility in Kenya, instead of flying them home.
CNN and other media outlets reported that the facility would be a 50-bed unit that was meant to be operational from Friday.
The facility is set to be located on the Laikipia Airbase, about 125 miles north of Nairobi.
The Kenyan government didn’t reveal discussions about the facility this week, but said it was in touch with the US government over support over Ebola preparedness.
Kenya groups sue US over Ebola quarantine facility plans
A Kenyan legal group, the Katiba Institute, and the Kenya Law Society, both separately challenged the presence of Ebola-related facilities in the country.
The Kenya Law Society asked the court to nullify any agreements signed between the US and Kenya on the project, citing public health risks and a lack of public participation.
The High Court in Nairobi put a stop to any deal on the Ebola facility until petitions against it are heard on Tuesday.
US officials recently temporarily blocked Green Card holders or permanent residents from reentering the US if they have traveled to the DRC, Uganda or South Sudan.
Edited by: Karl Sexton
