Washington, May 28 (IANS) The Trump administration said on Thursday it has mobilised $112 million and established a quarantine facility in Kenya as part of a rapid response to a recent Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
The American response was launched within 24 hours of receiving alerts about the outbreak and involves multiple federal agencies, a senior administration official told reporters here. The official added that the US has established a 50-bed quarantine facility in Kenya that will become operational on Friday.
“We have set up a camp in Kenya that will be a facility that we will use to quarantine American citizens who may have been exposed to the glendo Gio variant of the Ebola virus,” the official said during a background briefing.
The administration said the operation is being carried out in two phases. The first phase involves the quarantine facility, while the second will add biocontainment and isolation units for patients who develop symptoms or test positive.
“We brought in a cadre of over 30 Commission Corps officers into the DC area. They trained on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. They departed for Kenya last evening,” the official said.
According to officials, the officers received specialised training in personal protective equipment, quarantine procedures, and Ebola patient care. Several had previously participated in the US response to the 2014-15 Ebola outbreak in West Africa.
The administration described the facility as having “increased ability, superior ability to care for patients and to quarantine” compared with the Monrovia Medical Unit used during the earlier Ebola response.
Another senior administration official said the government had “been able to deploy $112 million mobilized in less than two weeks” through foreign assistance funding.
The official added that Washington had recently announced “$80 million in new commitments supporting PPE procurement, delivery, border screening, and surveillance contact tracing diagnostic supplies”.
Officials said the Kenyan government had approved the establishment of the facility and that the United States was also coordinating closely with Britain on access and logistics.
“We do have full approval and have been in conversation with the president of Kenya on the establishment of this facility,” an official said.
American citizens deemed at high risk of exposure could be transported to the Kenyan facility for quarantine. Patients who develop Ebola symptoms or test positive would receive care there before being transferred to advanced medical centres closer to the region.
“Time can be of the essence,” an official said, explaining that shorter transport times could provide faster access to specialised treatment than moving patients over longer distances.
The facility is being established at Wajir Air Base in Kenya. Officials said aircraft have been placed on standby to transport patients if necessary.
The administration also disclosed that three isolation units, each capable of housing four patients, and two biocontainment units, each capable of housing two patients, are being prepared for deployment.
The objective is to provide “the absolute best care for American citizens” while ensuring rapid access to advanced treatment facilities if patients require intensive medical support, the official said.
–IANS
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