The administration of Donald Trump is reportedly preparing a controversial plan to send U.S. citizens exposed to Ebola to Kenya for monitoring and treatment instead of bringing them back to the United States, according to multiple people familiar with the matter.
The move would mark a major departure from previous U.S. outbreak responses, where Americans exposed to the deadly virus were typically evacuated home and treated in specialized isolation units.
Under the proposed arrangement, Americans considered at high risk of developing Ebola while in Central or East Africa would be monitored in Kenya by teams of U.S. Public Health Service officers currently being trained for deployment. Individuals who begin showing symptoms could later be transferred to medical facilities in Europe for treatment.
The development comes as an Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo rapidly worsens. Health authorities estimate the outbreak has surpassed 1,000 infections and caused more than 200 deaths within days of being officially declared, making it one of the largest Ebola outbreaks ever recorded.
Critics have linked the worsening situation to cuts in U.S. foreign aid and disease surveillance programs under the Trump administration, arguing that weakened monitoring systems may have delayed early detection and containment efforts.
Last week, the administration also invoked the public health measure known as Title 42 to restrict entry into the United States for immigrants and legal permanent residents who had recently been in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Uganda, or South Sudan within the previous 21 days.
The new Ebola response plan would reportedly extend that approach to U.S. citizens exposed to the virus, effectively keeping them outside the country during monitoring and initial treatment phases.
