Two people died in central Kenya during a protest against a planned U.S. Ebola quarantine facility, a protest organizer and security source told Reuters on Tuesday, as President William Ruto rebuffed criticism that it will endanger Kenyans.
Protest Turns Deadly
Protest organizer Patrick Wahome said both had died of gunshot wounds after police opened fire on hundreds of demonstrators on Monday in the town of Nanyuki, where the air force base intended to accommodate the facility is located. The security source did not specify how the two died. Police spokesperson Michael Muchiri said he was not aware of the deaths.
Controversial Quarantine Unit
The plan to set up a 50-bed unit to house Americans who have been exposed to the virus in Democratic Republic of Congo or Uganda has angered many Kenyans who accuse the U.S. of offloading the public health risk of caring for patients. A Kenyan court last week temporarily suspended the plan in response to a lawsuit from a legal advocacy group. Another hearing was due on Tuesday.
Despite the order, U.S. military aircraft have continued to fly in staff and equipment in recent days, according to a U.S. official and diplomatic sources. The U.S. State Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
President Ruto's Defense
Addressing the issue for the first time late on Monday, Ruto said the facility was part of a wider national preparedness plan and a long-running health partnership with Washington. “The facility that is at Laikipia Air Base is not a facility different from all the other facilities that we have across Kenya,” he told reporters in northern Kenya. He did not mention the court order.
Ebola Outbreak Context
The outbreak of the rare Bundibugyo strain of Ebola is centred in eastern Congo and several cases have spilled over into neighbouring Uganda. There have been more than 900 suspected cases, including over 220 suspected deaths from the disease. Experts say the outbreak, declared on May 15, is likely significantly larger and more advanced than official figures suggest after circulating undetected for many weeks.
President Donald Trump’s administration has said it “cannot and will not allow” any cases to enter the U.S., unlike during the 2014-2016 Ebola outbreak in West Africa when several infected U.S. nationals were treated on U.S. soil. A U.S. citizen who contracted Ebola while treating patients in the DRC as a medical missionary was moved to Germany last month for treatment along with five others who were exposed. A seventh person was taken to the Czech Republic.
Facility Details
The facility in Nanyuki would be staffed by members of the U.S. Public Health Service, a uniformed branch of the Department of Health and Human Services. It is meant to receive Americans who have been exposed to the virus but are still asymptomatic. Patients who develop symptoms would be sent for care in other countries, U.S. officials have said.
Ruto said on Monday that he approved the facility after Trump asked Kenya to support it, citing decades of health cooperation with Washington. Kenya’s government has pushed for the facility to take in patients of all nationalities, not just U.S. citizens. Ruto said it would serve Kenyans and foreign nationals too, though U.S. officials have not confirmed this. “We are a responsible government. We know what we are doing,” Ruto said.
