Kenya rules out foreign Ebola quarantines
Kenya rules out foreign Ebola quarantines
The country will not issue special travel certificates, Health Minister Aden Duale said
Kenya will not serve as a quarantine center for foreign travelers seeking to meet other countries’ Ebola-related entry requirements, Health Minister Aden Duale has said.
Speaking at a press briefing on Wednesday, Duale said the decision followed the discharge of Kenya’s last Ebola patient and the release of 11 remaining contacts from quarantine. The government will also refuse to issue quarantine or Ebola-free certificates that are not required under international health regulations.
He urged countries that have imposed travel and visa restrictions on Kenya to lift them, arguing that the measures are no longer justified.
Kenya has no patient under treatment, Kenya has no community transmission, Kenya has no contact in quarantine. There is no basis for restrictions for Kenyan travelers. Transparency must be rewarded, not punished, Duale said, as quoted by The Star.
The minister announced that Kenya would begin a mandatory 42-day monitoring period on November 12. If no new infections are detected, the country could officially declare its Ebola outbreak over on December 23.
Kenya confirmed its first Ebola case on October 6 after an infected traveler arrived from the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DR Congo) through Uganda. The outbreak resulted in nine confirmed infections and two deaths, while seven patients recovered, according to the Health Ministry. Officials traced and monitored 135 contacts and reported no community transmission.
Duale declined to discuss a US-backed Ebola isolation facility at Laikipia Air Base in Nanyuki, saying the matter remained before the courts. A Kenyan court ordered construction and operations suspended in May, but work reportedly continued despite the ban. The project also sparked protests among local residents, who raised concerns about potential health risks. By late June, the 50-bed facility was largely completed, according to AFP. In October, the US State Department confirmed that the center had no patients and that Kenya had not requested its use, local news agency reported.
Meanwhile, the Ebola outbreak continues in DR Congo, where the health authorities have reported 11,042 confirmed infections and 5,387 deaths since May.
