Americans who contract Ebola could be flown to the United States, U.S. officials said on June 3, in a shift from their previous stance.
“We’re not ruling out moving people out to the United States if we believe that case requires more intensive management,” Dr. Jay Bhattacharya, acting director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said at a CNN event.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio told lawmakers during a hearing in Washington on June 3 that a facility the United States is setting up in Kenya for quarantining Americans exposed to Ebola is only for observation.
“If they test positive at any time while in that facility, we will remove them from Kenya and send them to the nearest treatment facility, either in Europe or … in the United States to be treated for Ebola,” he said.
The U.S. government has in the past flown Americans with Ebola to the United States, including several who were flown to a containment facility in Atlanta in 2014 during an outbreak in Africa. That is one of multiple facilities in the United States equipped to isolate people with infectious diseases.
An Ebola outbreak was detected in central Africa in May. All 378 confirmed cases are in Congo or in neighboring Uganda, which Kenya borders. Sixty-three people have died.
An American doctor who tested positive for Ebola after caring for patients in Congo was flown in May with his wife, another doctor, and children to Germany for treatment. A third U.S. doctor was taken to a hospital in the Czech Republic for monitoring.
Rubio said during a meeting in May, “We cannot and will not allow any cases of Ebola to enter the United States.” U.S. officials told reporters on a recent call that Americans who were at the Kenya facility would be flown to facilities in Europe “as opposed to flying them all the way back to the United States.”
A Kenyan court has blocked the construction of the quarantine center in Kenya, in response to a legal challenge.
“We are aware of the court action filed in Kenya and are actively working with the Kenyan government to resolve any objections and communicate our shared objectives to the Kenyan people,” the U.S. Embassy in Kenya said on June 2.
A Trump administration official told The Epoch Times via email on June 3 that no Americans are scheduled to be transferred to the facility. The official said the facility is staffed with American doctors.
Bhattacharya wrote in an op-ed for The Wall Street Journal published on June 3 that the United States was acting aggressively to prevent Ebola from being imported into America, citing how officials have barred many people who were recently in Congo, South Sudan, or Uganda from entering the United States. He said that the administration is also focused on providing care for Americans who develop Ebola.
“To accomplish this goal, we are sending U.S. Public Health Service officers, including doctors experienced in treating Ebola, to a new facility in Kenya,” he wrote.
“The Pentagon has been instrumental in establishing this facility within days. The facility provides a location to quarantine Americans who are at risk of developing Ebola, as well as the capacity to provide [intensive care unit-level] care for those who get sick. Each patient will receive a customized care plan, and forward transport will be arranged as appropriate based on clinical needs.”