Hundreds of youths protest outside Kenya's Ebola quarantine center for US citizens

The two organizations cited Kenya's fragile health system as the reason why foreign Ebola patients should not be quarantined in the country.

U.S. officials said Thursday that the United States was planning to send Americans exposed to Ebola while abroad to a new facility in Kenya instead of flying them home. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the administration's plans. They said the facility would be at Laikipia Air Base and would be operational with 50 quarantine beds by Friday.

On Monday, hundreds of youths marched to the gates of the air base, chanting anti-Ebola slogans.

Health Minister Aden Duale on Sunday said the quarantine center was for "everyone" and not exclusively for U.S. nationals.

The U.S. government intends to commit $13.5 million toward Kenya's Ebola preparedness efforts, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a statement.

Local leaders, including Laikipia Governor Joshua Irungu, had told journalists that they were opposed to the establishment of an Ebola quarantine center.

"This will expose our people to Ebola," he said, adding that many locals work inside the air base and could be exposed.

A resident, Malin Ndegwa, said Kenya should not be exposed to the virus by hosting foreigners when it is not the epicenter of the outbreak.

"Why are they not doing it in the DRC (Congo)? Why are they not doing it in Uganda? Why must they bring it here? So we are saying, we categorically, no negotiations, no public participation, we want nothing. We want that facility taken out of our town, we want it taken out of Kenya," he said.

Kenya has not recorded Ebola cases, but neighboring Uganda has reported nine and closed its border with Congo.

At least 282 confirmed cases have been reported in Congo with over 1,000 suspected cases of the Bundibugyo virus, the current species of Ebola, which has no approved treatment or vaccine.