U.S.-Funded Ebola Isolation Facility Opens at Kenya Air Base for Exposed Aid Workers

Seven American aid workers from Samaritan’s Purse are under quarantine at an isolation facility at Laikipia Air Base near Nanyuki, Kenya, after exposure during Ebola response work in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The workers are part of a 72-member Disaster Assistance Response Team deployed by the organization. The team comprises 44 Americans and personnel from nine other countries.

None of the seven quarantined employees have shown symptoms. The facility, built to house Americans exposed to Ebola in the DRC or Uganda during a 21-day monitoring period, uses large military tents in a fenced gravel area. Quarantined workers sleep on military cots and receive meals from the U.S. military.

Franklin Graham, president and CEO of Samaritan’s Purse, spoke with the workers by phone on Thursday morning. “We are grateful to God for the incredible men and women who have been fighting Ebola on the front lines,” he said.

The facility was completed after Kenya’s High Court had ordered construction to stop. Health Cabinet Secretary Aden Duale was found in contempt of court after work continued but later announced an immediate halt to all activity at the site. As of Thursday, the Democratic Republic of Congo had reported 2,124 confirmed Ebola cases and 828 deaths.

Earlier this week, the U.S. government said American travelers in the DRC must wait 21 days after leaving the country before returning to the United States.