US plans 50‑bed Ebola quarantine centre in Kenya sparks protests and expert criticism

The United States intends to construct a 50‑bed field hospital and quarantine facility at Laikipia airbase near Nanyuki, Kenya, to isolate Americans who have been exposed to the Ebola virus. Officials say the measure is meant to keep the disease out of the United States after the World Health Organization declared the Bundibugyo outbreak a public‑health emergency.

Kenyan courts temporarily blocked the project, and protests erupted in the town of Nanyuki. Demonstrators were shot by police, resulting in two deaths, and locals voiced fears of exposure, with one taxi driver saying, “Everybody should be quarantined in their home country.” Kenyan President William Ruto defended the plan as part of national health preparedness. Former CDC leaders and other health experts have urged the U.S. to abandon the plan, calling it “profound clinical, ethical, operational and legal concerns” and arguing that infected Americans should be treated in the United States. The CDC workers’ union described the proposal as a “sharp departure” from previous practice.