By David Bolarinwa with Agency Report Seven American aid workers who had been helping to combat the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) have been placed in quarantine at a newly established isolation facility in Kenya following new travel restrictions imposed by the United States government. According……
By David Bolarinwa with Agency Report
Seven American aid workers who had been helping to combat the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) have been placed in quarantine at a newly established isolation facility in Kenya following new travel restrictions imposed by the United States government.
According to a report by Reuters, Franklin Graham, president and CEO of Samaritan’s Purse, the US charity organisation which employs the aid workers, confirmed the development to Reuters.
“Samaritan’s Purse has seven American Disaster Assistance Response Team staff members there,” Graham was quoted as saying.
“None of them have any symptoms, but they are being quarantined by the Kenyan government for 21 days.”
Samaritan’s Purse is one of the biggest foreign aid groups treating Ebola in Congo and has the largest number of Americans there, working closely alongside the World Health Organisation to contain the outbreak.
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One of its US staff members who caught Ebola earlier this month was transferred to a hospital in Germany on Monday.
A US State Department official told Reuters a group of asymptomatic Americans who had served on the front lines of the Ebola response had “voluntarily moved to the Kenya facility for precautionary monitoring and isolation”.
“Kenyan authorities have authorized their movement into the facility under the observation of the U.S. Public Health Service clinicians,” the official said, adding that the decision was taken “strictly out of an abundance of caution.”
The publication noted that Kenyan health ministry officials did not immediately respond to calls or requests for comment on the move while a senior Kenyan foreign ministry official said they had no information on it.
In May, the US had requested to set up a quarantine facility in Kenya to cater to Americans exposed to the Ebola virus following its outbreak in the region.
The proposal was made after the US banned travellers from the DRC, South Sudan or Uganda to contain the spread of Ebola from the countries.
A Kenyan court ruled against the request and ordered that work be suspended on the facility after the matter sparked huge opposition in the East African country.
Construction continued however, according to US officials and satellite imagery reviewed by Reuters.
Another source familiar with the matter told the publication that the group of asymptomatic aid workers had arrived at the site in central Kenya on Monday and were sleeping in army cots in tents.
“There is one potential high risk exposure,” he said, adding that their health was being monitored.
Kenyan authorities are not allowing the group to leave the facility to travel anywhere else in the country, he added.
