Several senior officials at the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have reportedly opposed a plan to send Americans exposed to the Ebola virus to Kenya for treatment and quarantine.
The development comes amid growing controversy over the proposed arrangement and its implications for public health and international coordination.
According to internal sources cited in US media reports, CDC officials recommended against the proposal, with the agency’s acting director, Dr Jay Bhattacharya, also reportedly advising that the plan should not proceed.
The concerns were raised by personnel involved in Ebola response operations, who warned that the initiative could undermine ongoing containment and emergency preparedness efforts.
The plan, which reportedly involves establishing a health facility in Kenya to host US citizens potentially exposed to Ebola, has drawn widespread criticism from both Kenyan medical professionals and US health officials.
Critics have raised questions over medical standards, logistics and the ethics of cross-border management of highly infectious diseases.
Some CDC staff members are reported to have opposed the proposal, with internal sources describing frustration within the agency.
One CDC source was quoted expressing concern over differences in medical infrastructure and care capacity, noting that it is difficult to compare proposed facilities abroad with established Ebola treatment centres in the United States.
Some officers at the agency are reportedly “furious about it” and believe the plan “will make recruiting and staffing for Ebola response activities harder,” according to a source cited by CNN.
"It’s hard to imagine the standard of care will be able to meet that of the treatment facilities that have been developed at great cost over many years in the US," they reportedly stated.
"Let alone the aspects of wanting to be repatriated and closer to family, other supportive services, etc.”
They argue that the plan could complicate the recruitment and deployment of Ebola response personnel while also creating uncertainty in operational planning.
Despite these concerns, the same source acknowledged that Kenya has experienced health professionals and capable institutions.
The controversy has also drawn reactions in Kenya.
The Kenya Medical Practitioners, Pharmacists and Dentists Union (KMPDU) earlier opposed the reported plan, warning against what it described as attempts to turn Kenya into a containment zone for foreign health emergencies.
The doctors’ union called for full transparency, public participation and adherence to constitutional safeguards before any such arrangement is considered.
“We will not sit back and watch Kenya be treated as a containment colony for a lethal pathogen that we did not generate,” the union said in a statement, reflecting growing professional and public concern over the proposal.
The High Court in Nairobi has since suspended the establishment and operationalisation of any Ebola-related exposure, quarantine, isolation, or treatment facility in Kenya under arrangements involving the United States or any other foreign government or agency.
