U.S. federal authorities plan to quarantine Americans who may have contracted Ebola virus disease in Kenya at designated facilities, report The New York Times et The Wall Street Journal. A very unusual device, underline the two daily newspapers: “This method contrasts sharply with the response of previous governments to outbreaks, which consisted of repatriating health workers and other citizens of the United States who may have caught the virus to be treated in specialized units… remind him New York Times.
Federal health professionals have already received orders to deploy, according to government sources. Wall Street Journal, even if the approval of the Kenyan government was still awaited on Tuesday May 26, adds the business daily.
This would involve sending not only people who are at risk of having caught the virus, but also those who test positive. According to sources from New York Times, However, the latter initially had to be sent to Europe to be treated, as is already the case with a doctor treated in Berlin. (Six other U.S. nationals are under observation in Germany and the Czech Republic.)
There are currently no reported cases in Kenya, but the number of suspected cases is growing rapidly in the DRC (Democratic Republic of Congo); there are also a few in Uganda.
Avoid the arrival of a virus carrier
A Donald Trump government official says Wall Street Journal that the federal authorities will provide state-of-the-art support in Kenya to evacuate DRC nationals more quickly.
Doctors cited by the New York Times doubt it, however, and fear a loss of opportunity for patients. “I find it hard to believe that we will be able to set up in a few days, or even in a few months, a system comparable to that established during the last decade precisely for this type of situation… déclare Craig Spencer, spécialiste de santé publique à l’université Brown, qui a lui-même contracté Ebola en 2014.
With this system, the federal authorities intend to prevent the arrival on national soil of Americans at risk of being carriers of the virus. The Trump administration has already banned the entry of foreign nationals who have recently traveled to the DRC, Uganda and South Sudan, including permanent residents.
