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Kenyan Court Blocks U.S. Plan for Ebola Quarantine Facility

The ruling pauses a proposed 50‑bed centre for exposed Americans, signaling diplomatic friction with a growing Bundibugyo outbreak in northeastern DRC that is straining testing and funding.

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Workers load World Health Organization (WHO) emergency supplies onto a United Nations plane in Nairobi, Kenya, Wednesday, May 20, 2026, headed for Congo to combat the Ebola outbreak in Ituri province. (AP Photo/Andrew Kasuku)
World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus arrives in Bunia, in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, on May 30, 2026. The World Health Organization's director general had earlier announced he was coming to Bunia, capital of Ituri province, to "help" and "listen to" the people facing the worst of the outbreak.The highly contagious haemorrhagic fever is already present in three eastern DRC provinces and in neighbouring Uganda, where nine confirmed infections, including one death, have been recorded.There have been at least 1,077 suspected cases of Ebola in the DRC since the outbreak was declared on May 15, including 246 deaths, the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention said on May 28. (Photo by Glody MURHABAZI / AFP via Getty Images) The highly contagious haemorrhagic fever is already present in three eastern DRC provinces and in neighbouring Uganda, where nine confirmed infections, including one death, have been recorded. There have been at least 1,077 suspected cases of Ebola in the DRC since the outbreak was declared on May 15, including 246 deaths, the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention said on May 28. (Photo by Glody MURHABAZI / AFP)
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Overview

  • The Kenyan High Court on Friday temporarily barred the United States from building or operating any Ebola facility in Kenya and from admitting people exposed to or infected with Ebola under foreign‑government agreements until petitions are heard on June 2.
  • The outbreak, driven by the rare Bundibugyo ebolavirus, has produced roughly 1,000 suspected cases and hundreds of deaths and was declared a public‑health emergency of international concern by WHO.
  • Local response teams face a growing backlog of laboratory tests and limited contact tracing, and insecurity, mass displacement and mining‑linked movement in Ituri and neighbouring provinces are hampering isolation and safe burials.
  • The U.S. had proposed a 50‑bed unit at Laikipia Air Base and pledged $13.5 million for Kenyan preparedness, a plan that drew legal challenges from rights groups and threats of strikes from Kenyan medical unions.
  • WHO has deployed leadership and experts to the DRC and is prioritizing rapid expansion of testing and clinical trials, but donors have cut pledges and the shortfall in funds and supplies could slow containment and regional cooperation.