A Kenyan court has suspended a plan to establish an Ebola quarantine facility for United States nationals exposed to the virus, following a fierce backlash from health workers and rights activists.
Court Orders Halt
High Court Judge Patricia Nyaundi on Friday ordered a halt to the agreement on the facility, pending a ruling in a legal challenge brought by activists. The case is expected to be heard next week.
Controversial Deal
The proposed arrangement emerged amid fears that the disease could spread beyond Central Africa. An outbreak centred on the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and crossing into Uganda has killed more than 200 people.
As countries seek to avert the spread internationally, the US struck a deal to isolate and monitor potentially exposed citizens in Kenya rather than transport them directly home for treatment.
The secretive, unilateral establishment of an Ebola quarantine facility raises grave constitutional concerns regarding the rights to life, health, fair administrative action, public participation, and parliamentary oversight
The Katiba Institute, a Kenyan rights group, said in a petition challenging the planned facility that it was being established in secrecy and unilaterally.
Health Workers Strike Threat
The Kenyan doctors’ union on Thursday issued a 48-hour strike alert in preparation should the government proceed with the deal, accusing authorities of putting public health at risk.
As the vanguard of Kenya’s healthcare system, we are utterly disgusted by the government’s apparent willingness to trade national biosecurity and the lives of its citizens for foreign aid, the union’s secretary-general Davji Atellah said in a statement.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Washington intended to commit $13.5m towards Kenya’s Ebola preparedness efforts, though he did not publicly confirm details of the proposed quarantine arrangement.
DRC Crisis Deepens
The dispute comes as health authorities race to contain the outbreak of the Bundibugyo strain of Ebola in northeastern DRC, where overstretched health workers, limited medical supplies, and ongoing conflict have hampered efforts to stop the virus.
The Congolese government has confirmed more than 1,000 suspected cases and at least 220 deaths since declaring the outbreak on May 15. WHO believes the true scale is likely much larger.
