Kenya court blocks US Ebola facility plan
Kenya’s High Court halted a US-backed plan to build an Ebola quarantine facility at the country’s Laikipia Air Base intended for Americans potentially exposed to the virus.
The court order on Thursday came shortly after Washington announced a new initiative, as the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DR Congo) continues to spread. According to the US Department of State, Washington plans to commit $13.5 million to support Kenya’s Ebola preparedness.
The petition filed by Kenya’s Katiba Institute argues that the project could create a public health risk in a country that has not reported any Ebola cases. The court certified the application as urgent after the petitioner alleged an “imminent threat to life” if interim orders were not granted, according to the court decision.
The ruling restrains Kenyan authorities from “establishing, operationalising, facilitating, approving or permitting ... any Ebola exposure, quarantine, isolation or treatment facility” in the country, under an arrangement with the US or any other foreign government.
The US has taken other measures to limit the risk of Ebola spread. Washington recently imposed emergency entry restrictions on foreign nationals who had visited DR Congo, Uganda or South Sudan, while US citizens returning from those countries could only enter through Washington Dulles International Airport.
The legal dispute comes as health authorities respond to a growing Ebola outbreak in DR Congo. On Thursday, the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) Director General Jean Kaseya said that a total of 1,077 suspected cases and 246 probable deaths have been recorded since May 15, when the country declared its 17th Ebola outbreak.
The outbreak involves the Bundibugyo strain of the virus and has raised concerns across the region because there are currently no approved vaccines or targeted treatments available.
However, the World Health Organization (WHO) on Friday reported the first confirmed recovery of the outbreak. The agency’s technical officer Anais Legand said that a patient who tested positive for Ebola recovered and was discharged from hospital on May 27 after receiving two negative test results.
