Several prominent infectious disease physicians wrote an open letter to Congress raising concerns about the Trump administration’s plan to send Americans with potential Ebola exposure to a facility in Kenya instead of the U.S.
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Leaders of the effort include the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s former chief medical officer Debra Houry, its former principal deputy director Anne Schuchat, as well as a pair of physicians with experience treating Ebola patients.
“Americans who volunteer to serve on the frontlines of outbreaks should not have to wonder whether they will be able to return home if they become ill,” the letter stated.
The Trump administration has been reluctant to bring back any American citizen who was infected or exposed to Ebola.
The authors noted that following the 2014–2016 West Africa Ebola epidemic, “substantial taxpayer investments were made to establish and sustain a world-class network of biocontainment and high-consequence infectious disease treatment centers."
Those facilities were specifically designed for situations like an Ebola outbreak and include highly trained teams, specialized transport systems, advanced laboratory capabilities, and critical care expertise.
“These capabilities cannot be recreated in a matter of days or weeks through the rapid establishment of an overseas facility,” the authors wrote.
The plans to open a 50-bed facility on a Kenya Air Force base were temporarily interrupted when a Kenyan high court on May 29 blocked further construction and barred medical operations at the facility while a lawsuit objecting to the plan is pending.
The high court on Tuesday extended the pause.
The U.S. Embassy in Kenya said in a statement Tuesday it was "actively working with the Kenyan government to resolve any objections and communicate our shared objectives to the Kenyan people.”
The U.S. had a long-standing partnership with Kenya on health matters, and the joint response to the current Ebola outbreak “is a natural extension of our longstanding cooperation,” the embassy said.
U.S. officials said the goal is to stop the outbreak at its source and prevent Ebola from reaching Kenya or the United States. |
Welcome to The Hill’s Health Care newsletter, we’re Nathaniel Weixel and Joseph Choi — every week we follow the latest moves on how Washington impacts your health.
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