Americans exposed to Ebola could be quarantined in Kenya rather than the US, the White House has confirmed.
In a statement to the Daily Mail, an official confirmed that the administration was drawing up plans with the Kenyan government to set up a facility for asymptomatic people who were thought to have been exposed to the disease.
The statement said: ‘As part of a coordinated multi-national response to the worsening Ebola health emergency, the US government is working with the Government of Kenya and other partners to plan for a facility for asymptomatic individuals suspected of exposure to the Ebola virus.
‘Kenya and the US share an historic health partnership that over decades has benefitted both Americans and Kenyans.
‘Our joint response to the current Ebola outbreak is a natural extension of our longstanding cooperation.’
It came as Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in Wednesday’s cabinet meeting that the administration would not allow Ebola to enter the US, as an outbreak of the deadly disease in the Democratic Republic of Congo quickly spreads.
He said: ‘The number one priority of our foreign policy is to protect the American people. We cannot and will not allow any cases of Ebola into the US.’
He added that the US government was ‘working very, very hard to contain this crisis to the countries where it is currently located’.
The US is planning to quarantine Americans exposed to Ebola in Kenya, reports suggest. Pictured above are Red Cross workers lowering the coffin of Ebola virus victim Dr Tibenderana Katho Blaise into his grave in a cemetery near Bunia, the DRC
A major Ebola outbreak in central Africa has caught health officials off guard and already led to more than 1,000 suspected cases and 220 suspected deaths.
One American, a missionary doctor, has tested positive for the disease and has been flown to Germany for treatment, where his condition is reportedly ‘trending slightly in the right direction’.
His American colleague, also a health care worker, has been quarantined in Prague, the Czech Republic, where he is being monitored but currently has no symptoms.
Cases have been recorded in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Uganda so far. Infections were first detected in Bunia, a city of nearly a million people in the DRC.
Under the plans, which were first reported by the New York Times and the Washington Post, health officials are said to be considering transporting pre-made biocontainment units to Kenya to set up a field hospital in the country.
Sources said the initial plan was to have 50 beds, although this could be scaled up to 250 beds if that was needed.
Initially, officials had planned to transfer any Ebola-infected patients to Europe. But now, according to two people who spoke to the New York Times, any sick individuals will be treated in Kenya.
It was also reported that officials were considering equipping the facility with the necessary tools to treat patients who are infected with Ebola.
Healthcare workers pictured in protective gowns and masks near Goma, the DRC
Healthcare workers pictured with locals who are washing their hands set up at a checkpoint near Goma, the DRC. It is a preventive measure to limit the spread of the virus
The new facility is reportedly being set up by the State and Defense Department and the Department of Health and Human Services.
Estimates suggest that up to 5,000 Americans are in the DRC, although it is not clear how many are in Uganda.
It was not clear how long individuals may be required to stay at the Kenyan field hospital, but symptoms of Ebola can take up to 21 days to emerge.
Early warning signs are often similar to the flu, and include a fever, severe headache, fatigue or weakness, but can quickly progress to vomiting, diarrhea and unexplained bleeding or bruising. Without treatment, the disease can also cause internal bleeding which leads to death.
Speaking at the cabinet meeting, Rubio added that agencies were also now ‘tracking people’ to make sure that no one with Ebola entered the US.
He continued: ‘We feel like we have good efforts in place to do that and Americans should feel sure that the president and his administration is doing everything we can to protect them on that front.’
Health officials were caught off-guard by the outbreak, which was not detected until there were hundreds of suspected cases.
The first case was detected on April 24 in a health worker in Bunia, DRC, at the center of the outbreak, who had suffered from a fever, hemorrhaging and vomiting.
The individual died from the infection, but it took three weeks for tests to be carried out that revealed they had Ebola – allowing time for the disease to spread.
Cases are being caused by the Bundibugyo variant, a rare form of the disease for which there is no vaccine or treatment.
Estimates suggest about 50 percent of people who are infected die from the disease.
Ebola, however, does not spread as easily as Covid or the flu. To pass it on, someone has to come into contact with infected fluids from another patient.
Officials introduced travel restrictions for people coming to the US from the Democratic Republic of Congo, Uganda and South Sudan last week, requiring any passenger who has visited these countries within the last 21 days to arrive via George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston, Washington Dulles International Airport and Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport for screening.
Last week, a flight from Paris to Detroit was forced to divert to Canada after it emerged that a passenger from the Ebola-hit Democratic Republic of Congo was on board.
The CDC and other health officials say the risk posed by the virus to people in the US and Europe is currently low.
Concerns were raised that the disease may have reached Italy yesterday after two individuals who had recently visited Uganda developed symptoms consistent with a potential infection, although tests were negative for the disease.
Health officials are now been deployed to the region to find the thousands of people who may have been exposed to the virus and ask them to quarantine.
But the response is being hampered owing to a lack of supplies as well as conflict in the area and mistrust in the local community.
Documents from Friday’s virtual meeting show that, as of last week, only seven percent of the 1,261 people identified as contacts of suspected Ebola patients had been found and followed up.
The World Health Organization’s director has now warned that the disease is ‘outpacing the response’.
Addressing the African Union, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said: ‘We are urgently scaling up operations, but at the moment the epidemic is outpacing us.’
