‘We don’t have another country to run to’: Kenyans fear US plan for Ebola quarantine site

People from town of potential site for US citizens exposed to Ebola say it puts them at risk in country with no known cases

People from a town in central Kenya where the US wants to set up an Ebola quarantine facility for its citizens have strongly criticised the plan, saying they fear it will expose them to the virus and that it is indicative of double standards on the part of the US.

“Everybody should be quarantined in their home country. We shouldn’t allow foreigners to bring us diseases,” said Charles Mathenge, a taxi driver who lives near Laikipia Air Base, the proposed site in Nanyuki, 120 miles from the capital, Nairobi. “Kenya is our country, and we should be careful with it.”

There has been rising nationwide anger in recent days. Two people were killed during a protest in the town on Monday.

David Mulinge, a souvenir seller, said: “What’s shocking is that the Americans don’t want their infected fellow citizens to step into their own country but to come to Kenya. That’s like treating us as lesser beings.”

Health officials in Uganda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo are battling to contain an outbreak of the virus. The outbreak was declared on 15 May, but the virus is thought to have been circulating undetected for weeks before then.

The epidemic, which the World Health Organization (WHO) has declared a public health emergency of international concern, is caused by the rare Bundibugyo virus, which has no vaccine or approved treatment.

So far, there have been 60 deaths and 344 confirmed cases in the DRC, and one death and nine confirmed ​cases in Uganda, the WHO said on ‌Tuesday. There are no known cases in Kenya.