Trump Reportedly Eyeing Kenya for Quarantine of Ebola-Exposed U.S Citizens

The United States government is reportedly planning to send its Ebola-exposed citizens to Kenya. 

According to reports from multiple sources in the U.S., the Donald Trump administration is reluctant to fly its residents who have been exposed to the virus back to the United States for observation, as has been the norm on previous occasions. 

According to the Wall Street Journal, the Trump administration is expected to deploy U.S. public health officers to Kenya to staff a potential quarantine facility.

Reports indicate that American citizens will be quarantined in Kenya inside a facility that the U.S. government is considering constructing in the near future. 

The publication adds that the facility will be used to isolate American citizens who have been exposed to the virus, as well as those who test positive.

However, the facility is pending approval by the Kenyan government as of Tuesday, May 26, the report says.

If approved, Kenya will then host Ebola patients, something that might raise fears among the public about the potential outbreak of the virus in the country.

“But the administration now plans to provide treatment in Kenya as well,” insiders were quoted by the New York Times. 

Under the new plan, a few dozen Public Health Service officers are being trained to deploy to Kenya to provide medical care to Americans who are deemed at high risk of the virus. 

As of Wednesday, May 27, there have been a few recorded cases of Americans contracting the virus, including an American doctor in Germany.  Six other Americans exposed to the Ebola variant have also since been transported to Germany and the Czech Republic for monitoring. 

Currently, Kenya has not recorded any cases of the virus, even after screening over 48,000 individuals suspected of having been exposed to the virus.

There were fears recently that the virus had reached the country after reports indicated that three foreign individuals who recently travelled to the democratic of Congo had come to the country.

However, according to the Ministry of Health, the individuals were isolated, and tests were later conducted, revealing that they tested negative, as well as those that they had contact.

The virus broke out in the DRC and has since extended to Uganda and South Sudan, as Kenya remains at high risk of contracting the virus, given the porous nature of its borders with Uganda.

Before the latest plans to set up the quarantine facility in Kenya, the US government had announced major plans to prevent its citizens from contracting the virus.

The Department of State directed all U.S.-bound American citizens and lawful permanent residents who have recently been in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Uganda, or South Sudan to enter the country only through Washington Dulles International Airport for enhanced health screening.

Under the directive, all travellers who have been present in the three countries within 21 days of arrival in the United States must undergo enhanced public health screening at Washington Dulles International Airport (IAD).