Kenyan Court Blocks Critical U.S. Plan To Contain Ebola Outbreak

A Kenyan court on Friday temporarily blocked the Trump administration’s plan to establish a U.S.-run Ebola quarantine and treatment facility in Kenya, throwing uncertainty into Washington’s strategy for handling Americans exposed to the rapidly growing outbreak in central Africa.

The ruling came just as U.S. officials said the field hospital at Laikipia Air Base in central Kenya was set to begin operations.

The temporary restraining order, issued by Kenya’s High Court pending a June 2 hearing, halts the establishment and operation of the facility after legal activists argued the agreement endangered Kenyan citizens and lacked public transparency. “At its core, the case is about preserving constitutional accountability, protecting public health, and ensuring that no government may place expediency above the lives and safety of the people of Kenya,” the Katiba Institute, the legal advocacy group behind the lawsuit, wrote in a statement on X.

The proposed facility was intended to quarantine and treat American citizens exposed to Ebola during the ongoing outbreak centered in the Democratic Republic of Congo. U.S. officials said the site would initially hold up to 50 patients, with plans to potentially expand capacity to 250 beds.

The Trump administration unveiled the Kenya plan Wednesday as part of a broader effort to prevent Ebola from entering the United States. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said during a White House Cabinet meeting that the administration “cannot and will not allow any cases of Ebola to enter the United States.”

Under the plan, Americans exposed to Ebola would first be sent to Kenya for quarantine and treatment before severe cases could potentially be transferred to advanced medical facilities in Europe.

The administration has defended the strategy as medically and logistically sound, arguing that treatment closer to the outbreak zone would reduce transport times and help contain the virus overseas. The current outbreak involves the Bundibugyo strain of Ebola, for which there is currently no approved vaccine or targeted therapeutic treatment.

According to health officials, the outbreak has now surpassed 1,000 suspected and confirmed cases, with nearly 250 suspected deaths reported so far. The outbreak has proven especially difficult to contain because it is concentrated in eastern Congo, a region plagued by armed militias, population displacement, and instability surrounding valuable mineral mining operations.

Health experts warn that the actual number of infections may be significantly higher due to delayed detection and challenges in tracing contacts in conflict zones.

Kenya’s medical community has also voiced alarm over the American quarantine proposal. Some doctors and union officials argued the facility could effectively create an Ebola entry point inside a country that has not yet reported any confirmed cases.

“Our concern is that this is being done with the interest of the Americans, and there’s no interest of the Kenyan citizens,” Kenya doctors union secretary general Davji Atellah told reporters.

The Kenyan government has defended its cooperation with Washington, insisting the arrangement complies with Kenyan law and public health safeguards. Meanwhile, the Trump administration has intensified travel restrictions tied to the outbreak. Last week, the U.S. banned travelers from Congo, Uganda, and South Sudan and announced that American citizens arriving from those countries may enter only through three designated airports for enhanced screening.

The Kenyan court’s ruling now leaves the administration without a clear backup plan if additional Americans are exposed to Ebola in the coming days.