Protest outside Kenya’s planned US Ebola quarantine centre

Hundreds of young people in the town of Nanyuki in central Kenya have rallied against plans to set up an Ebola quarantine centre for United States citizens exposed to the virus at Laikipia Air Base nearby.

The protests on Monday came two days after Kenya’s High Court suspended the establishment of the facility and the arrival of any foreign patients, pending a case filed by the Law Society of Kenya and a constitutional watchdog.

Both organisations argue that Kenya’s fragile health system means foreign Ebola patients should not be quarantined in the country.

US officials said on Thursday that the United States was planning to send Americans exposed to Ebola while abroad to a new facility in Kenya, instead of flying them home. The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the facility would be at Laikipia Air Base and would be operational with 50 quarantine beds by Friday.

Health Minister Aden Duale said on Sunday that the quarantine centre was for “everyone” and not exclusively for US nationals.

The US government intends to commit $13.5 million towards Kenya’s Ebola preparedness efforts, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a statement.

Local leaders, including Laikipia Governor Joshua Irungu, have told journalists they oppose the establishment of an Ebola quarantine centre.

“This will expose our people to Ebola,” he said, adding that many locals work inside the air base and could be exposed.

Kenya has not recorded any Ebola cases, but neighbouring Uganda has reported nine and closed its border with the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC)

At least 263 confirmed cases of the Bundibugyo virus, a rare strain of Ebola for which there is no approved vaccine or treatment, have been reported in DRC, according to official figures.