President Donald Trump’s administration is building a quarantine and treatment center in Kenya for Americans exposed to Ebola while visiting impacted countries in Africa, the White House confirmed Wednesday, a stark contrast from past Ebola outbreaks in which U.S. citizens were brought home for treatment in specialized medical units.
Medical personnel wear protective clothing while disinfecting the area in preparation for the arrival of volunteers during the launch of an Ebola trial vaccination campaign at Mulago Referral Hospital in Kampala on Feb. 3, 2025.
WEDNESDAY, MAY 27, 2026Americans who are evacuated from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the center of the Ebola outbreak, will quarantine and, if needed, be treated at the Kenyan center "without the risks of a lengthy transport back to the US," the White House said.
Jennifer Nuzzo, the director of the Pandemic Center at the Brown University School of Public Health, tells The Guardian of the move: “It is shocking to me that the administration is looking to prevent Americans from coming home to receive the proven world-class care that our taxpayer-funded biocontainment and treatment units are equipped to provide.”
Officials in Uganda order the closure of its border with the Democratic Republic of the Congo despite guidance from the World Health Organization that says such measures "are usually implemented out of fear and have no basis in science."
