NEW YORK — The Trump administration is reportedly planning to send Americans exposed to the Ebola virus to Kenya for observation and treatment instead of returning them to the United States, according to a New York Times report citing people familiar with the plans.
The move would mark a major departure from previous U.S. outbreak responses, where exposed American citizens and healthcare workers were typically flown back home for monitoring and specialised care in high-containment medical units.
According to the report, the administration is setting up a quarantine and treatment facility in Kenya through a coordinated effort involving the U.S. State Department, Department of Defense and Department of Health and Human Services.
A few dozen U.S. Public Health Service officers are reportedly being trained for deployment to Kenya to provide care for Americans considered at high risk of developing Ebola.
Initially, the plan was to monitor exposed Americans in Kenya before transferring anyone who developed symptoms to Europe for treatment. However, the administration now reportedly intends to provide treatment within Kenya as well, including for U.S. government scientists and physicians who become infected.
The White House declined to comment on the reported plans.
The proposal comes amid a rapidly worsening Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo, where more than 1,000 cases and over 200 deaths have been reported within days of the outbreak being announced, according to the New York Times.
The outbreak, centred in Ituri Province in eastern Congo, has prompted the World Health Organization to declare a public health emergency of international concern.
Public health experts have raised concerns about the decision, arguing that the United States already has specialised Ebola treatment facilities with advanced capabilities.
Dr. Tom Inglesby, director of the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security, told the newspaper that patients have better survival chances when treated in specialised units designed for Ebola care.
Dr. Craig Spencer, a Brown University public health expert and Ebola survivor, questioned whether a comparable treatment system could quickly be established in Kenya.
The report also notes that the Trump administration recently invoked Title 42 public health restrictions to bar immigrants and legal permanent residents who had recently been in Congo, Uganda or South Sudan from entering the United States.
