{"id":2262,"date":"2026-07-17T17:35:35","date_gmt":"2026-07-17T17:35:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cnnglobalnews.com\/2026\/07\/17\/seven-americans-quarantining-at-kenya-ebola-facility-after-us-travel-ban-says-aid-group\/"},"modified":"2026-07-17T17:35:35","modified_gmt":"2026-07-17T17:35:35","slug":"seven-americans-quarantining-at-kenya-ebola-facility-after-us-travel-ban-says-aid-group","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cnnglobalnews.com\/?p=2262","title":{"rendered":"Seven Americans quarantining at Kenya Ebola facility after US travel ban, says aid group"},"content":{"rendered":"<div data-gu-name=\"media\" class=\"dcr-14sl0e4\">\n<div class=\"dcr-17l77cs\">\n<figure id=\"df1713a9-2304-42fa-a7fe-9fcf07d87eae\" class=\"dcr-191xnya\">\n<div id=\"img-1\" class=\"dcr-1t7hdmw\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"A member of the M23 rebel group stands guard as provincial authorities visit the Rodolphe Merieux Laboratory, National Biomedical Research Institute, where samples from suspected Ebola cases are tested,  in Goma, North Kivu province of the DRC, in May.\" src=\"https:\/\/i.guim.co.uk\/img\/media\/db74c2bd4916bf32c469d847b07460e79d7b13ff\/324_0_3556_2844\/master\/3556.jpg?width=465&amp;dpr=1&amp;s=none&amp;crop=none\" width=\"465\" height=\"371.89538807649046\" loading=\"eager\" class=\"dcr-up96pv\"><span class=\"dcr-kogzpx\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"dcr-18mnkpm\">\n<div class=\"dcr-1294qmb\"><label for=\"the-checkbox\" class=\"dcr-4sl2vt\"><\/label> <\/p>\n<div id=\"the-caption\"><figcaption data-spacefinder-role=\"inline\" class=\"dcr-1mfxiaj\"><span class=\"dcr-13i4yc9\"><\/span><span class=\"dcr-1cipnsy\">A member of the M23 rebel group stands guard as provincial authorities visit the Rodolphe Merieux Laboratory, National Biomedical Research Institute, where samples from suspected Ebola cases are tested,  in Goma, North Kivu province of the DRC, in May.<\/span> Photograph: Arlette Bashizi\/Reuters<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/span><a href=\"#img-1\" data-ignore=\"global-link-styling\" class=\"open-lightbox dcr-zwabc0\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><button data-element-id=\"df1713a9-2304-42fa-a7fe-9fcf07d87eae\" type=\"button\" class=\"open-lightbox dcr-1bitgpn\" aria-haspopup=\"dialog\"><span class=\"dcr-1shbixy\">View image in fullscreen<\/span><\/button><\/a><\/div>\n<p><span class=\"dcr-qda0hp\"><figcaption data-spacefinder-role=\"inline\" class=\"dcr-1e9iiy9\"><span class=\"dcr-13i4yc9\"><\/span><span class=\"dcr-1cipnsy\">A member of the M23 rebel group stands guard as provincial authorities visit the Rodolphe Merieux Laboratory, National Biomedical Research Institute, where samples from suspected Ebola cases are tested,  in Goma, North Kivu province of the DRC, in May.<\/span> Photograph: Arlette Bashizi\/Reuters<\/figcaption><\/span><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div data-gu-name=\"headline\" class=\"dcr-ql9l8l\">\n<div class=\"dcr-6mja0y\">\n<h1 class=\"dcr-l0wuod\">Seven Americans quarantining at Kenya Ebola facility after US travel ban, says aid group<\/h1>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div data-gu-name=\"standfirst\" class=\"dcr-1xpojbf\">\n<div class=\"dcr-1gm5ptv\">\n<p>Aid workers are first known people to quarantine at facility, which sparked huge opposition in Kenya <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div data-gu-name=\"body\" class=\"dcr-x1al2c\">\n<div class=\"dcr-11gq2tx\">\n<div id=\"maincontent\" class=\"dcr-1w2vkyc\">\n<div class=\"article-body-commercial-selector article-body-viewer-selector dcr-ogvvui\">\n<p class=\"dcr-1s160rg\">Seven American aid workers who had been in Congo to fight the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/world\/ebola\" data-link-name=\"in body link\" data-component=\"auto-linked-tag\">Ebola<\/a> outbreak are quarantining at a new isolation facility in \u2060Kenya after the US government introduced travel \u2060restrictions, the head of a US charity \u200bemploying them told Reuters.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1s160rg\">The aid workers are the first known people to quarantine at the facility, which has sparked huge opposition in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/world\/kenya\" data-link-name=\"in body link\" data-component=\"auto-linked-tag\">Kenya<\/a> and is at the heart of a legal case in which a court has ordered the work to be \u2060suspended. Construction continued, however, according to US officials and satellite imagery reviewed by Reuters.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1s160rg\">Washington\u2019s new policy says American citizens returning from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where there is an Ebola outbreak, must spend three weeks in a third country before entering the United States.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1s160rg\">The US government is building \u2060the 50-bed bio-isolation unit on an air force base in central Kenya for asymptomatic Americans exposed to the virus in Democratic Republic of the Congo or Uganda. Many Kenyans are angered at what \u200bthey see as the US offloading the health risk such patients pose.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1s160rg\">Last month, Kenya\u2019s \u200chealth minister announced an immediate halt to the facility\u2019s \u200cconstruction after he was found in contempt of court for failing to observe the order to halt work pending a final ruling.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1s160rg\">\u201cSamaritan\u2019s Purse has seven American Disaster Assistance Response Team staff \u200cmembers there,\u201d Franklin Graham, president and CEO of Samaritan\u2019s Purse, told Reuters in response to questions.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1s160rg\">\u201cNone of them have any symptoms, but they are being quarantined by the Kenyan government for 21 days,\u201d Graham said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1s160rg\">A US state department official told Reuters a group of asymptomatic Americans who had served on the frontlines of the Ebola response had \u201cvoluntarily moved to the Kenya facility for precautionary monitoring and isolation\u201d.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1s160rg\">\u201cKenyan authorities have authorized their movement into the facility under the observation of the US public health service clinicians,\u201d the official said, adding that the decision was taken \u201cstrictly out of an abundance of caution\u201d.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1s160rg\">Kenyan health ministry officials did not immediately respond to calls or requests for comment \u200con the move. A senior Kenyan foreign ministry official said they had no information on it.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1s160rg\">Another source familiar with the matter who asked for anonymity said that the group had arrived at the site in central Kenya on Monday and were sleeping in army cots in tents.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1s160rg\">He said some \u200bhad treated Ebola patients at the Christian aid group\u2019s treatment centres in Congo but others had carried out work such as construction, with no direct contact with the sick.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1s160rg\">\u201cThere is one potential high-risk exposure,\u201d he said, adding that their health was being monitored. Kenyan authorities are not allowing the group to leave the facility to travel anywhere else in the country, he added.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1s160rg\">The often fatal viral disease spreads through direct contact with bodily fluids from infected people or animals.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1s160rg\">Samaritan\u2019s Purse, which has been promised several million dollars from the Trump administration for the \u2060Ebola response, is an evangelical Christian group that works in disaster zones around the world.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1s160rg\">It is one of the biggest foreign \u200baid groups treating Ebola in Congo and has the largest number of \u200bAmericans there, working closely alongside the World Health Organization to \u200bcontain the outbreak. One of its US staff members who caught Ebola earlier this month was transferred to a hospital in Germany on Monday.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div data-print-layout=\"hide\" class=\"dcr-swayiu\"><span class=\"dcr-1xhbmzr\">Explore more on these topics<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"dcr-2c03t5\">\n<ul class=\"dcr-p7nd18\">\n<li class=\"dcr-r721ee\"><a href=\"\/us-news\/us-news\" class=\"dcr-856iwi\">US news<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"dcr-r721ee\"><a href=\"\/world\/kenya\" class=\"dcr-856iwi\">Kenya<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"dcr-r721ee\"><a href=\"\/world\/ebola\" class=\"dcr-856iwi\">Ebola<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"dcr-r721ee\"><a href=\"\/world\/africa\" class=\"dcr-856iwi\">Africa<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"dcr-r721ee\"><a href=\"\/tone\/news\" class=\"dcr-856iwi\">news<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"dcr-313bdz\"><a href=\"mailto:?subject=Seven%20Americans%20quarantining%20at%20Kenya%20Ebola%20facility%20after%20US%20travel%20ban,%20says%20aid%20group&amp;body=https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/us-news\/2026\/jul\/17\/ebola-us-aid-workers-kenya?CMP=share_btn_url\" class=\"dcr-ncybeu\">Share<\/a><\/p>\n<div class=\"dcr-19bkree\"><a data-link-name=\"meta-syndication-article\" href=\"https:\/\/syndication.theguardian.com\/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theguardian.com%2Fus-news%2F2026%2Fjul%2F17%2Febola-us-aid-workers-kenya&amp;type=article&amp;internalpagecode=us-news\/2026\/jul\/17\/ebola-us-aid-workers-kenya\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer\" title=\"Reuse this content\" class=\"dcr-1c41onw\">Reuse this content<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div data-gu-name=\"right-column\" class=\"dcr-1kq7f60\"><span class=\"dcr-1ryr20k\"><\/span><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A member of the M23 rebel group stands guard as provincial authorities visit the Rodolphe Merieux Laboratory, National Biomedical Research Institute, where samples from suspected Ebola cases are tested, in &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnnglobalnews.com\/?p=2262\" class=\"more-link\">Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":2263,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2262","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-world-news","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cnnglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2262","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cnnglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cnnglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cnnglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2262"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.cnnglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2262\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cnnglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2262"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cnnglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2262"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cnnglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2262"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}