JUANA SUMMERS, HOST:
A Kenyan court has temporarily halted U.S. plans to open an Ebola quarantine facility in the country. The outbreak is in neighboring Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo. The court's decision follows protests from Kenyan activists and doctors over infection risks, along with claims that the country could be used as a, quote, "containment colony." The isolation center was set to begin operations today with a staff of U.S. medical personnel. Michael Kaloki reports from Nairobi.
MICHAEL KALOKI, BYLINE: News of the proposed U.S. Ebola quarantine facility in Kenya has dominated headlines here all week.
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UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER #1: A 50-bed Ebola quarantine facility for Americans exposed to the deadly virus is set to become operational in Kenya on Friday.
KALOKI: The isolation center was to be set up at a military airbase in Laikipia, around 100 miles north of Nairobi, to treat U.S. citizens exposed to the virus in neighboring Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo. Patients could then be evacuated to medical facilities in Europe on a case-by-case basis. The Congo remains the epicenter of the outbreak, with over 200 suspected deaths and nearly 1,000 infections, while Uganda has reported one death and a handful of cases.
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UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER #2: The court has granted conservatory orders...
KALOKI: But then came news on Friday that a Nairobi court had temporarily halted plans for the opening of the U.S. quarantine facility. The court granted a petition filed by the civil society group Katiba Institute, which warned the arrangement poses what it called grave and imminent risks to public health.
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KALOKI: The U.S. proposal has sparked strong criticism from politicians and medical groups, and on the streets of Nairobi today, some Kenyans, like Robert Kiberenge, were quite forthright.
ROBERT KIBERENGE: As Kenyans, we totally reject the establishment of a U.S. citizens Ebola quarantine in Kenya. We are totally opposed to it.
KALOKI: But he added this caveat.
KIBERENGE: But if it is meant to accommodate every human being, Kenyans and U.S. citizens, we shall agree. Kenya is not a geopolitical isolation ward. Kenya is a sovereign nation. Americans must respect us.
KALOKI: The United States has pledged $13.5 million to support Kenya's Ebola preparedness alongside wider regional funding. So far, only one American, a missionary, has contracted the virus in the latest outbreak and was evacuated to Germany for treatment. The Kenyan High Court will hear the case again next week.
Michael Kaloki, NPR News, Nairobi. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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