Seven US aid workers isolate at Kenya Ebola facility despite court order

Seven US aid workers are isolating at an Ebola quarantine facility in Kenya that a court had ordered halted, Samaritan's Purse confirmed Friday. Kenya's health minister, Aden Duale, said he was not aware of their presence.

The facility is at Laikipia Air Base, about 200 kilometres from Nairobi. Three Kenyans have died in violent protests over its creation. Kenya has never recorded an Ebola case, and many people oppose bringing possible carriers of the highly contagious disease into the country.

A Kenyan court ordered the project to stop and declared Duale in contempt for failing to do so immediately. Duale told the court on June 23 that he had ordered the immediate and complete halt of any intended construction of the facility.

The US State Department said several US citizens who had been working with Samaritan's Purse in Ebola-hit areas of the Democratic Republic of Congo had been taken to the Kenyan facility. It said all were asymptomatic and had not tested positive for Ebola at the time of the statement. The department said they were moved to Kenya strictly as a precaution and that Kenyan authorities had authorised their movement into the facility.

When asked for comment, Duale said: "Am not aware."

Samaritan's Purse said seven members of its Disaster Assistance Response Team were at the isolation centre. Franklin Graham, the charity's chief executive, said they were being housed in large military tents in a fenced gravel area, sleeping on military cots, and receiving food from the US military.

The dispute has caused anger in Kenya and surprised both the Kenyan and US governments. Washington has pledged $13.5 million to support Kenya's Ebola preparedness efforts, while critics object to what they see as colonial overtones in the arrangement. President William Ruto previously said it would be unfortunate to refuse the quarantine centre request after decades of US health assistance.

Kenya and the United States are also working to finalise a contested health deal under which Kenya would hand over large amounts of health data in exchange for billions of dollars in aid.