By Deidre McPhillips, Jennifer Hansler, Aaron Cooper, Jamie Gumbrecht, CNN
(CNN) — As an Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo continues to grow, the Trump administration says it is focused on keeping the disease out of the United States.
“We cannot and will not allow any cases of Ebola to enter the United States,” US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said at a Cabinet meeting Wednesday.
The US “is setting up a state-of-the-art facility” in Kenya for Americans who need Ebola care, a Trump administration official said Wednesday.
“The facility is designed to provide access to high-quality care for Americans who would need to quickly get out of DRC and quarantine without the risks of a lengthy transport back to the US,” the official said.
“Time is of the essence for Ebola patients, and this facility will enable Americans in the region who contract Ebola to receive lifesaving care as quickly as possible without 12-plus hours of medevac flight time,” they said.
“Treatment capabilities at the facility are expected to be able to care for the full spectrum of Ebola Virus Disease, including critical care needs, though each case will be evaluated for forward transport for more advanced care as appropriate in order to maximize patient outcomes,” the official said.
They said the facility was being set up “through a coordinated effort” with the US State Department, the US Department of Health and Human Services and the Pentagon.
Some predict ‘awful consequences’
However, the US has its own specialized network of hospitals that are highly equipped to treat Ebola patients that some experts say would be much better utilized.
Jeremy Konyndyk, who was director of the US Agency for International Development’s Office of US Foreign Disaster Assistance during the 2014-16 West Africa Ebola outbreak, noted that “the US has invested for years and continues to invest in a whole network of very capable Ebola isolation and treatment facilities.”
“Rather than having confidence in the capabilities we’ve built up here, we’re sending them just literally anywhere else,” said Konyndyk, who is now president of the humanitarian organization Refugees International.
“One of the things that I just find so viscerally offensive about the administration’s posture right now is they’re saying basically, if you’re an American who gets infected, we don’t have your back; you’re not welcome in your own country,” he told CNN.
Dr. Krutika Kuppalli, an infectious disease expert and former medical director of the Sierra Leone Ebola Treatment Center, called the new plan “insane.”
It will have “awful consequences,” she wrote in a post on X on Wednesday.
Lawrence Gostin, director of the World Health Organization Collaborating Center on National and Global Health Law, said the outcomes will be worse for both patients and humanitarian workers.
The plan is “reckless, unethical & possibly unlawful,” he wrote in a post on X on Wednesday.
Earlier this month, an American doctor working in the DRC who tested positive for Ebola was sent to Germany for care, and another with a high-risk exposure was sent to the Czech Republic.
In a statement Wednesday, the Kenyan Ministry of Health noted “ongoing discussions with US government and other global partners regarding international collaboration on strengthening preparedness and response mechanisms for Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) and other emerging public health threats.”
“Any arrangements regarding international health cooperation will be guided by Kenya’s national laws, public health regulations, biosafety and biosecurity standards, and the overriding responsibility of Government to safeguard t