Americans Sent to Quarantine in Kenya After US Implements Ebola Travel Ban

Multiple Americans are being quarantined in Kenya after being in Congo, where an Ebola outbreak has killed more than 800 people, the Trump administration confirmed on July 17.

American humanitarian workers who volunteered to respond to Ebola in Congo “have voluntarily moved to the Kenya facility for precautionary monitoring and isolation,” a State Department official told The Epoch Times in an email.

The move came after several developments. A Samaritan’s Purse worker who had been working in Congo tested positive for Ebola, and the U.S. government barred Americans from returning from Congo to the United States until they spent at least 21 days in a third country.

Congolese authorities recently updated the number of confirmed cases to 2,124, including cases in two new provinces, and the number of confirmed deaths to 828.

Kenyan authorities cleared the transportation of the Americans to the facility, which is being run by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, according to the State Department.

The Americans are all asymptomatic, and none have tested positive for Ebola, a disease that can cause severe symptoms such as vomiting and widespread bleeding.

The official said that the State Department is working with Samaritan’s Purse.

“The Trump Administration has no higher priority than the safety and security of Americans,” the official said. “Decisions on care will be made case-by-case based on what is the best clinical decision for a given patient at that time—in consultation with the Bureau of Medical Services, CDC, and the patient—to account for numerous factors. Due to privacy and other considerations, we have no further comment at this time.”

U.S. officials previously said the facility in Kenya would serve to house asymptomatic people exposed to Ebola. The Samaritan’s Purse employee and a doctor with Serge, another nongovernmental group, who tested positive for Ebola earlier in the outbreak were flown to Germany for treatment.

It’s not clear when the facility was made operational, as a court in Kenya had paused construction and Kenya’s health minister had called for construction to halt.

Samaritan’s Purse CEO and President Franklin Graham told The Epoch Times via email on Friday that seven aid workers the group employs are in quarantine at the facility in Kenya, which has not confirmed any Ebola cases since the outbreak was detected in Congo in May.

“None of them have any symptoms but they are being quarantined by the Kenyan government for 21 days,” he said. “They are being housed in large military tents in a fenced-in graveled area, sleeping on military cots, and their food is being provided by the U.S. military. I was able to speak to them by phone this morning, thank them, and encourage them while they wait to come home.”