The Trump administration is preparing to set up a quarantine and treatment facility in Kenya for Americans exposed to or infected with Ebola during the outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. U.S. public health officers are expected to be deployed to staff the potential facility.
The United States and Kenya are currently in talks to create the center, although Kenya has not yet approved the plan. Sources indicate that Kenya wants the facility to be open to all nationalities.
This move represents a departure from procedures used during previous outbreaks of the virus. In the United States, a Trump official has asked CDC staff to volunteer to screen travelers at airports. The CDC has stated that no cases of Ebola have been confirmed in the U.S. and the risk to the general public remains low.
Some experts have criticized the White House approach, arguing that not allowing Americans to return to the U.S. hurts treatment efforts. One expert described the plans as a dramatic abdication of what the government owes its own citizens.