An Ebola quarantine station for US citizens, which is being constructed on a military base in central Kenya, has caused outrage in the East African nation amid a continuing outbreak of the deadly disease.
Hundreds took to the streets of Nanyuki town on Monday and Tuesday and gathered in front of the planned centre, to which Americans who contract Ebola while overseas will be sent rather than being allowed back home. At least two people were killed, and one person was injured when the demonstration turned violent on Monday.
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US officials had earlier confirmed to reporters that the centre will be based in the town’s Laikipia Air Base and will cater to Americans exposed to the Ebola virus. The base serves the Kenyan military.
The World Health Organization (WHO) declared an international public health emergency on May 17 after officials detected the rare Bundibugyo strain, which they discovered had been circulating for weeks in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
Unlike the more common Zaire strain, there are no approved vaccines or treatments against the Bundibugyo strain.
The virus has spread to neighbouring Uganda.
There are fears that the outbreak could become one of the worst on record due to the delay in detection, as well as recent declines in health funding from the US and other Western donors. Last year, the US axed most foreign aid and effectively shuttered the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) following the start of Donald Trump’s second term as president.
At least 321 people are infected in the DRC, and 48 have died. One person has died in Uganda, while nine cases have been confirmed.
There are currently no confirmed cases in Kenya. The country has never recorded the disease.
Despite the protests in Kenya and a court order, plans for the centre have not been called off, with government officials doubling down in their defence of the project this week.
Here’s what we know:
Why are Kenyans protesting?
Kenyans across the country are worried about the risks of importing Ebola into the country.
Health workers in the country have also reacted with anger: In the DRC, a lack of vaccines and protective gear has resulted in many health workers contracting the disease.
The Kenya Medical Practitioners, Pharmacists and Dentists Union said in a statement last week that the group would not “watch Kenya be treated as a containment colony”.
“If it is too dangerous for America, it is too dangerous for Kenya,” the statement added.
US officials first announced last week that Americans who contract Ebola while abroad will be sent to the new facility in Kenya rather than flown home, according to The Associated Press. The facility at the Laikipia Air Base would be operational by last Friday and would have 50 beds to start, officials said.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said at a cabinet meeting on Wednesday that the US “cannot and will not allow any cases of Ebola to enter” the country.
In a statement on Thursday, Rubio’s spokesperson, Tommy Pigott, confirmed talks between Rubio and Kenya’s President William Ruto and said Washington intends to commit $13.5m towards “Kenya’s Ebola preparedness efforts”.
Another $112m was donated to the regional response, the statement said.
According to US media, the centre will have isolation and biocontainment units for holding and treating suspected and positive cases. Approximately 30 officers of the Commissioned Corps of the US Public Health Service departed for Kenya last week after three weeks of training.
A US doctor who contracted the virus in the DRC after unknowingly operating on an infected person was flown to Germany for treatment two weeks ago.
Is this legal?
Last week, Katiba Institute, a civil society organisation, and the Kenya Law Society separately challenged the plans at the High Court of Nairobi.
The groups cited exposure risks to the public and the absence of consultation with Kenyan citizens. They also pointed out that Kenya’s fragile health system has a limited capacity to manage Ebola.
Last Friday, the court suspended construction work on the facility and any patient arrivals. On Tuesday, it extended the suspension for at least three weeks.
What has the Kenyan government said?
On Monday, President Ruto defended the proposed establishment based on what he said was the US’s robust health aid support for Kenya.
“When President Trump asked the government of Kenya to support them by having a centre at Laikipia Air Base, I gave the okay”, Ruto told reporters at a news briefing.
“Because it was an agreement and a partnership with friends who have walked with Kenya for 30, 40 years,” he added.
After slashing much of its foreign health aid budget early last year, the US signed controversial bilateral agreements with Kenya and other African countries that saw Washington request health data or minerals in exchange for funding that was much lower than previously provided. Kenya’s health minister said at the time that the government would only share “de-identified” data (which has had personally identifiable information about individuals removed) with the US.
Ruto said on Monday that his government had “deployed every arsenal” to protect Kenya from an outbreak and said Kenyans should dismiss concerns the country cannot handle Ebola.
He did not refer to the court case, nor did he confirm whether the construction of the centre will go ahead despite the court order.
“We are a responsible government. We know what we are doing. People should relax. Politicians should avoid reckless, unnecessary talk that doesn’t mean anything,” he said.
Adding to the confusion, Health Minister Aden Bare Duale wrote in an X post on Wednesday that the quarantine facility would be open to both Americans and Kenyans. This has not been specifically clarified by the US, however. The centre is among 23 facilities that will be set up in high-risk counties, he said.
What has the US government said?
The US’s Ebola centre in Kenya has also been criticised internally by some officials from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), according to reporting by CNN.
Acting director Jay Bhattacharya advised officials against the plan, CNN reported, citing a CDC source working on the Ebola response.
Some at the agency are “furious about it” and believe the plan “will make recruiting and staffing for Ebola response activities harder”, CNN quoted the source as saying. The official said facilities in the US would be better for treatment, and that patients will want to be closer to family and other support services.
In the past, US citizens who have contracted Ebola have always been flown home for treatment.
