Media report US sending Ebola-exposed citizens to quarantine facility in Kenya

US government plans to send Ebola-exposed citizens to a new quarantine facility in Kenya rather than flying them to the US, US media reported on Wednesday (27 May).

President Trump’s administration has instructed the US military to establish a quarantine facility in central Kenya within a week, according to The Washington Post, citing two sources familiar with the matter.

The field hospital will accommodate US citizens exposed to the Ebola virus, with biocontainment units transported from the US.

The initial plan requires constructing a 50-bed unit within a week, potentially expandable to 250 beds. US Public Health Service members have begun training at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland for deployment to the Kenya facility, the report said.

The quarantine and treatment centre is designed for Ebola patients needing urgent evacuation from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), according to The Associated Press, citing an anonymous official.

The report added that it is unclear where exactly the facility will be built in Kenya or whether the Kenyan government has approved the plan.

According to the report, the US government this month flew a US doctor showing Ebola symptoms to a hospital in Germany and sent six other Americans for monitoring in Germany and the Czech Republic.

Earlier this month, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) imposed a 30-day entry suspension for foreign nationals who had been in the DRC, Uganda, or South Sudan in the past 21 days.

Last week, the policy was expanded to include lawful permanent residents, or green card holders.

The DRC’s Ministry of Health reported on Wednesday that suspected Ebola cases in the eastern provinces of the country have surpassed 1,000 as the outbreak continues to spread.