Seven American Aid Workers Are Quarantining in Kenya After U.S. Travel Ban

Seven American aid workers who were helping fight the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo are now staying at a quarantine facility in Kenya. They cannot return home yet because of a new U.S. government travel policy. The policy requires Americans coming back from Congo to spend three weeks in another country before entering the United States. The workers are employed by a charity called Samaritan's Purse.

Franklin Graham, the President and CEO of Samaritan's Purse, confirmed the news to Reuters. He said all seven workers are members of the group's Disaster Assistance Response Team. These are people who travel to dangerous places to help during health crises and other emergencies. Graham said the workers were doing important work battling the Ebola virus in Congo before the new rules changed their plans.

Graham was clear that none of the seven workers are sick. 'None of them have any symptoms, but they are being quarantined by the Kenyan government for 21 days,' he said. Quarantine means a person is kept away from others to make sure they do not spread a disease. Even if someone feels healthy, they can still carry a virus without knowing it, which is why quarantines are used as a safety step.

Ebola is a serious and sometimes deadly disease caused by a virus. It spreads through direct contact with the blood or body fluids of a person who is sick or has died from it. There is currently an outbreak of Ebola in the Democratic Republic of Congo, a large country in central Africa. Aid workers like those from Samaritan's Purse travel to outbreak zones to help treat patients and stop the disease from spreading further.

The quarantine facility where the workers are staying was built by the U.S. government on an air force base in central Kenya. It was designed to house Americans who may have been exposed to Ebola in Congo or in neighboring Uganda. However, the facility has caused a lot of anger among many people in Kenya. Critics say the United States is pushing its health risks onto Kenya instead of handling them at home.

Kenya's health minister even ordered construction of the facility to stop last month. A local court had previously issued orders telling officials to pause building, but the minister did not follow those orders at first. A judge found him guilty of contempt of court, which means failing to obey a court's rules. After that ruling, the minister announced the construction would immediately be halted.