U.S. to Send Exposed Americans to Europe for Ebola Care

Senior administration officials said Thursday that Americans who contract Ebola and require advanced care will be sent to Europe instead of being brought to the United States. The announcement continues a series of measures by the Trump administration to limit the entry of individuals exposed to or infected with Ebola. S.

has established a facility in Kenya with 50 quarantine beds that opens Friday at Laikipia Air Base.

The Kenya site will expand to include isolation and biocontainment units, but individuals who test positive will not remain there or return to the United States. They will instead be transferred to facilities in European countries that have not yet been identified.

A senior administration official stated that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is working with the Department of State to locate those facilities. Officials cited shorter flight times to Europe as the reason for the policy.

American surgeon who tested positive after working at a Congo hospital was flown to Germany for treatment. Seven other Americans exposed in Congo were also transported to Europe last week. The CDC has barred noncitizens who have been in Congo, Uganda, or South Sudan within the past 21 days from entering the United States.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio said at a Cabinet meeting that the administration will not allow any Ebola cases to enter the country. S. Public Health Service members, some of whom treated patients during the 2014 Liberia outbreak. The administration has maintained contact with Kenyan officials regarding the site.

The outbreak in Congo, caused by the Bundibugyo strain of Ebola, has reached 1,077 cases and 246 deaths, according to the World Health Organization. No vaccine or treatment exists for this strain.