Seven American aid workers from Samaritan's Purse are quarantining for 21 days at a controversial US-built bio-isolation facility in Kenya. The quarantine follows a July 14, 2026 US travel policy requiring citizens returning from Ebola-affected areas in the Democratic Republic of the Congo to spend three weeks in a third country. The facility, located at a Kenyan air base, has sparked local protests and a legal battle, with a Kenyan court ordering a suspension of its construction.
US Congo travel restrictions
- ▪The United States government's travel restrictions preventing direct return from the Democratic Republic of the Congo were introduced on July 14, 2026
- ▪The United States government introduced a travel policy requiring American citizens returning from the Democratic Republic of the Congo to spend three weeks in a third country before entering the United States
Kenya quarantine facility
- ▪The seven American aid workers arrived at the quarantine site in central Kenya on July 13, 2026, where they are sleeping in army cots in tents
- ▪The United States government is constructing a 50-bed bio-isolation unit on an air force base in central Kenya to monitor asymptomatic Americans exposed to Ebola
- ▪The United States government has committed 1.9 billion Kenyan Shillings to support Kenya's Ebola preparedness, and the Trump administration sought $800 million in emergency funding for the Kenyan quarantine facility
- ▪Seven asymptomatic American aid workers from Samaritan's Purse are quarantining for 21 days at a bio-isolation facility in Kenya after returning from an Ebola mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo
Kenya legal dispute
- ▪A Kenyan court ordered construction of the United States-backed Ebola isolation facility to be suspended following a lawsuit filed by the Katiba Institute
- ▪Kenya's health minister ordered a halt to the facility's construction after being found in contempt of court for failing to observe the suspension order
Congo Ebola outbreak severity
- ▪The Bundibugyo species Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo has killed at least 828 people since mid-May 2026
- ▪The World Health Organization stated that the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo is spreading largely undetected
Samaritan's Purse aid operations
- ▪An American staff member of Samaritan's Purse who contracted Ebola in the Democratic Republic of the Congo was transferred to a hospital in Germany on July 13, 2026
- ▪Samaritan's Purse is an evangelical Christian aid group operating as one of the largest foreign organizations treating Ebola patients in the Democratic Republic of the Congo
Story comments
Loading comments…