U.S. in Talks to Set Up Quarantine Hub in Kenya for Citizens Exposed to Ebola
The United States and Kenya are in active discussions over a plan that would see Washington open a quarantine facility on Kenyan soil for U.S. citizens who may have been exposed to the Ebola outbreak currently concentrated in the Democratic Republic of Congo, a U.S. official told Reuters on Wednesday, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Under the proposal, the facility would be staffed by members of the U.S. Public Health Service — a uniformed division within the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) — according to the official. The move signals a rare, preemptive step by Washington to protect its nationals from a fast-spreading viral threat abroad.
Kenya's government has not yet given the green light to the plan and has instead requested increased foreign assistance in exchange for its approval, the official added. The location of the potential facility remains unclear.
Korir Sing'oei, a senior official at Kenya's foreign ministry, said he was not fully briefed on the matter and was unaware of the request for additional aid. The White House and HHS did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The Wall Street Journal first reported on Tuesday that the Trump administration was expected to deploy U.S. public health officers to Kenya to staff a quarantine facility there, an intervention that underscores mounting international concern over the outbreak's trajectory.
The discussions come as health authorities race to contain a fast-growing outbreak of a rare Ebola strain — known as the Bundibugyo strain — in the Democratic Republic of Congo and neighboring Uganda. The World Health Organization has declared the outbreak a Public Health Emergency of International Concern, noting it is now the third-largest Ebola outbreak on record involving that particular strain.
Ebola is a severe and often fatal illness transmitted through direct contact with infected bodily fluids. The current outbreak has triggered a ramped-up international response, including from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
On Tuesday, the CDC asked staff to volunteer for urgent deployment to support Ebola screening at the country's entry points, according to an internal email reviewed by Reuters. The agency emphasized that no cases have been confirmed in the U.S. and that the risk to the general public remains low.
In the Democratic Republic of Congo, the CDC's latest data shows 906 suspected cases, including 105 confirmed, with more than 220 suspected deaths and 10 confirmed fatalities. Uganda has reported seven confirmed cases and one death, with most infections linked to the initial cluster.
The proposed quarantine facility in Kenya would represent a logistical and diplomatic undertaking. Kenya, a regional transit hub with direct flights to and from Ebola-affected zones, has previously served as a staging ground for international health responses. If approved, the facility could become a model for how the U.S. manages future health risks to its citizens abroad, particularly in regions with weak health infrastructure.
(Reporting by Siddhi Mahatole in Bengaluru; Additional reporting by Vincent Mumo Nzilani in Nairobi; Editing by Shilpi Majumdar, Toby Chopra and Aidan Lewis)