Why is a US Ebola facility in Kenya sparking protests?

The plan has drawn backlash from Kenyans as well as the country’s union of healthcare workers.

An Ebola quarantine station for US citizens, which is being constructed on a military base in central Kenya, has caused outrage in the East African nation amid a continuing outbreak of the deadly disease.

Hundreds took to the streets of Nanyuki town on Monday and Tuesday and gathered in front of the planned centre, to which Americans who contract Ebola while overseas will be sent rather than being allowed back home. At least two people were killed, and one person was injured when the demonstration turned violent on Monday.

US officials had earlier confirmed to reporters that the centre will be based in the town’s Laikipia Air Base and will cater to Americans exposed to the Ebola virus. The base serves the Kenyan military.

The World Health Organization (WHO) declared an international public health emergency on May 17 after officials detected the rare Bundibugyo strain, which they discovered had been circulating for weeks in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

Unlike the more common Zaire strain, there are no approved vaccines or treatments against the Bundibugyo strain.

There are fears that the outbreak could become one of the worst on record due to the delay in detection, as well as recent declines in health funding from the US and other Western donors. Last year, the US axed most foreign aid and effectively shuttered the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) following the start of Donald Trump’s second term as president.

At least 321 people are infected in the DRC, and 48 have died. One person has died in Uganda, while nine cases have been confirmed.

There are currently no confirmed cases in Kenya. The country has never recorded the disease.

Despite the protests in Kenya and a court order, plans for the centre have not been called off, with government officials doubling down in their defence of the project this week.

Kenyans across the country are worried about the risks of importing Ebola into the country.

Health workers in the country have also reacted with anger: In the DRC, a lack of vaccines and protective gear has resulted in many health workers contracting the disease.

The Kenya Medical Practitioners, Pharmacists and Dentists Union said in a statement last week that the group would not “watch Kenya be treated as a containment colony”.

“If it is too dangerous for America, it is too dangerous for Kenya,” the statement added.

US officials first announced last week that Americans who contract Ebola while abroad will be