US deploys troops to Kenya to support Ebola isolation facility

U.S. troops have deployed to an air base in Kenya to help with the construction and set up of a planned Ebola quarantine facility meant to house Americans. That planned site has sparked ongoing protests in Kenya, with multiple people killed by police.

Stars & Stripes first reported on the deployment. It is not clear how many troops were sent or what units they were drawn from.

An American official confirmed the deployment, saying in a statement to Task & Purpose that U.S. Africa Command deployed a forward coordinating element to Lakipia, Kenya, to establish a temporary isolation unit for Ebola.

The troops sent will not be providing frontline medical care, the statement said, although the deployed element does include medical planners. Instead, the force is meant to help with the logistics and set up of the facility and its operations, which are being led by the State Department, Department of Health and Human Services and the Centers for Disease Control. Other military personnel deployed include engineer, communications and security planners.

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The State Department directed questions from Task & Purpose about the deployment to the Department of Defense.

An Ebola outbreak was declared on May 15, with cases found in Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo. 689 cases have been confirmed in the Democratic Republic of Congo, and more than a dozen in Uganda.

The State Department announced plans for a 30-bed quarantine facility in Kenya, where Americans exposed to the disease would isolate. They would be screened there by healthcare providers before they are allowed back to the United States. The planned facility has sparked protests in Kenya. The air base, located in Nanyuki, is 120 miles from the capital of Nairobi. People have opposed the facility, citing the risk of the disease spreading into Kenya. Large-scale protests started last week. Three people have been killed by police since the protests started.

According to the U.S. embassy in Kenya, the State Department is also working to boost regional capacity to test people for the disease, including Americans who are part of the response. The embassy also said that the new facility would not pose a risk to nearby communities.

During an Ebola outbreak in 2014, U.S. forces deployed thousands of troops to West Africa to set up field hospitals and conducted hundreds of airlifts to bring in cargo. The response helped to contain the disease, although the epidemic did not fully end in some countries until 2016.