Seven American aid workers with the humanitarian organization Samaritan’s Purse are currently under a 21-day quarantine at a U.S.-built facility in Kenya. The workers recently returned from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where they were responding to an Ebola outbreak caused by the Bundibugyo virus. The U.S. State Department reported that the individuals moved to the facility voluntarily for precautionary monitoring and that none currently exhibit symptoms.
The quarantine follows a recent Trump administration policy requiring Americans who have been in the Congo to spend three weeks in a third country before returning to the United States. This measure was implemented via an updated Title 42 order signed by the Health Department, citing the risk of the virus spreading toward the Congo's capital, Kinshasa. The policy has drawn criticism from the Infectious Diseases Society of America, which argues that U.S. specialized treatment units should be used to care for these citizens domestically.
The isolation facility at Laikipia Air Base remains the subject of legal dispute. In May, Kenya’s High Court ordered a suspension of the facility's construction following a lawsuit by a constitutional defense group. Although the court held the Kenyan health minister in contempt for proceeding, the State Department confirmed that Kenyan authorities authorized the current placement of the Americans under the observation of U.S. Public Health Service clinicians. Global health reports indicate the Congo outbreak has reached over 2,100 cases and resulted in 828 deaths.