US Ebola Center in Kenya Sparks Backlash
- Health officials and residents of central Kenya are opposing the Trump administration's decision to establish an Ebola quarantine and treatment center in Kenya exclusively for American citizens.
- Government is currently constructing a 50-bed unit at the Laikipia airbase in Nanyuki, which is located 120 miles from the capital city of Nairobi.
- The project has proceeded despite a Kenyan high court order that blocked the plan.
Former U.S. Health officials and residents of central Kenya are opposing the Trump administration’s decision to establish an Ebola quarantine and treatment center in Kenya exclusively for American citizens.
The U.S. Government is currently constructing a 50-bed unit at the Laikipia airbase in Nanyuki, which is located 120 miles from the capital city of Nairobi. The facility is intended for the quarantine and treatment of Americans who have been exposed to the Ebola virus.
The project has proceeded despite a Kenyan high court order that blocked the plan. Both the U.S. And Kenyan governments moved forward with the installation, and the first American responders reportedly landed at the Laikipia airbase on May 30, 2026.
Local Protests and Fatalities
The plan has sparked significant unrest in Nanyuki. On June 1, 2026, protests against the quarantine facility resulted in the deaths of two people who were shot during the demonstrations.
Local residents have expressed fear that the facility will introduce the virus into a country where there are no known cases. Charles Mathenge, a taxi driver living near the Laikipia Air Base, argued against the arrival of foreign patients.
Everybody should be quarantined in their home country. We shouldn’t allow foreigners to bring us diseases,Charles Mathenge
Mathenge further stated that Kenya is our country, and we should be careful with it.
Other residents have characterized the U.S. Policy as a double standard, suggesting that the decision to treat infected Americans in Kenya rather than in the United States treats Kenyans as inferior.
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.David Mulinge, souvenir seller
Expert and Institutional Opposition
The Trump administration is also facing criticism from former top-level U.S. Health leaders, including previous officials from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). In a letter addressed to Congress, these experts urged the administration to abandon the Kenya-based facility.
This policy raises profound clinical, ethical, operational and legal concerns,Letter to Congress from former U.S. Health leaders
Daniel Jernigan, who resigned from the CDC in 2025 after 31 years with the agency—including time spent overseeing the 2014-15 Ebola response—questioned the basis of the current plan.
because it’s against so many ethical underpinnings that we have relied on for all of the past responses,Daniel Jernigan
The union representing workers at the CDC has also called for a change in policy, requesting that Americans exposed to Ebola be brought back to the United States for treatment. This demand marks a departure from the current administration’s plan to utilize the field hospital in Kenya.
Regional Outbreak Context
The push for the quarantine center follows an Ebola outbreak in Uganda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. While the outbreak was officially declared on May 15, 2026, health officials believe the virus had been circulating undetected for several weeks prior to the announcement.