Former senior U.S. officials and experts are urging the Trump administration to abandon plans to create an Ebola quarantine and treatment center in Kenya, while the union representing workers at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) demands that Americans exposed to Ebola be brought home for treatment. This was reported by Qazaqyia.kz citing The Guardian.

This was reported by Qazaqyia.kz citing The Guardian.

Shortly after the U.S. announced the creation of a field hospital in Kenya for quarantine and treatment of Americans for Ebola, the High Court of Kenya blocked the order, but the Kenyan and U.S. governments continued implementing the plan, and the first American specialists reportedly landed at Laikipia Air Base on Saturday.

Several former U.S. health officials, including former senior CDC officials, outlined their objections in a letter to Congress. "This policy raises deep clinical, ethical, operational, and legal concerns," they wrote.

Daniel Jernigan, who spent 31 years at the CDC, including leading the agency's response to Ebola in 2014-15 before retiring last year, said it was unclear how current officials arrived at this plan, "because it contradicts many of the ethical foundations we relied on in all past response measures."

The U.S. is building a 50-bed unit at the air base. Patients will have access to medications and some respiratory support, but those requiring a higher level of care will be flown to as-yet-unspecified hospitals in Europe.

Yolanda Jacobs, president of the AFGE Local 2883 union of federal employees, said in a statement that the Trump administration is "abandoning" CDC staff responding to the outbreak, which is "a sharp departure from the standard upheld by every previous administration."

The White House did not respond to inquiries about whether the facility would be available to Kenyans and others working on the Ebola response, and whether quarantine would be mandatory for all Americans working on the response or only those at high risk of infection. The White House previously did not say whether Americans wishing to return home rather than to Kenya would be allowed to do so.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services redirected inquiries to the State Department, which was invited to comment. Last week, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said: "We cannot and will not allow any case of Ebola to enter the United States."

During the 2014 West Africa Ebola epidemic, several people who treated patients were safely evacuated and treated at U.S. facilities in Atlanta, Bethesda, Omaha, and New York without subsequent transmission. U.S. President Donald Trump then strongly opposed this move, saying returning volunteers "should suffer the consequences" and should not be allowed into the U.S.

Ronald Nahass, president of the Infectious Diseases Society of America and medical director of research at ID Care, said Americans can safely quarantine in place after high-risk Ebola contact, and if they develop symptoms, the U.S. has some of the world's best quarantine and treatment facilities. "We spent taxpayer money to build first-class biocontainment units specifically to address this kind of problem and have trained personnel who are extremely experienced in dealing with this," Nahass said. These facilities "can handle this better than a field hospital in Kenya," he added. "Why not evacuate American citizens if you're concerned?"

During the 2014 outbreak, the U.S. created a field hospital specifically for healthcare workers from all countries who might need Ebola assistance. "If you come to West Africa to help, we've got you covered," Jernigan said of the 2014 approach. Creating a quarantine center in another country only for Americans would be highly unusual and a serious departure from such plans, he said.

It is also unclear what would happen to Americans in quarantine if they need medical care for reasons unrelated to Ebola, such as a heart attack or appendicitis, Jernigan said. "Would you send them to Kenyatta Hospital in Nairobi, and if so, would you send them in a bubble and allocate a special ward? If you simply sent them back to the U.S. to a specially equipped facility that already exists for millions of dollars, they would be surrounded by specialists."

Travel bans and restrictions like these have been ineffective in stopping the spread of diseases, Nahass said. "Borders are porous; you cannot keep infectious diseases out of the country that way," he said. Instead, according to Nahass, proven public health measures such as monitoring potential contacts and ensuring healthcare providers are prepared for possible cases would be far more effective.

International cooperation is also crucial for controlling outbreaks, Nahass said. "These are global events, and not participating in the global discussion, for which the WHO [World Health Organization] is the platform, is problematic." America's absence on the world stage is noticeable and will have long-term consequences, he added.