Seven American aid workers who fought the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo are quarantining at a US-built isolation facility in Kenya. The group began their 21-day quarantine on July 14, 2026, at a bio-isolation center located on Laikipia Air Base in Nanyuki, central Kenya [1].
The aid workers are staff members of Samaritan’s Purse's Disaster Assistance Response Team. Franklin Graham, the organization’s president, said, "None of them have any symptoms, but they are being quarantined by the Kenyan government for 21 days" [2, 1, 3].
The quarantine follows new US government travel restrictions requiring American citizens returning from Ebola-affected countries like the DRC to quarantine for 21 days in a third country before entering the United States [2, 1, 3]. A US State Department official said Kenyan authorities approved moving the seven Americans into the facility under observation by US public health clinicians and described the decision as "strictly out of an abundance of caution" [1]. Another official added that the group "had voluntarily moved to the Kenya facility for precautionary monitoring and isolation" [3].
The isolation facility was built by the US government and has a 50-bed capacity. It is intended to house asymptomatic Americans exposed to Ebola in the DRC or Uganda [1, 3].
The facility's construction faced local opposition. In June 2026, the Kenyan health minister was found in contempt of court for ignoring a court order to halt the facility’s construction. Despite this, the center was completed and is now operational [2, 1, 3].
None of the seven Americans have shown symptoms while quarantining. The 21-day period is set to end on August 4, 2026, following which they will be eligible to travel on to the United States if no symptoms develop [2, 1, 3].
