A third person in Kenya has tested positive for Bundibugyo ebolavirus in the country’s first-ever cluster of Ebola cases, as the second-largest outbreak in history kills more than 4,300 and sickens more than 9,000 people in the region.
asserted
outbreak → test → region
It highlights the diminished role the US has played in the worsening Ebola outbreak by building a controversial quarantine center in Kenya, pulling back health support globally, and banning travelers from certain countries.
asserted
US → highlight → countries
All of this has also reduced the ability to identify and respond to the outbreak and exacerbated mistrust.
asserted
All → reduce → mistrust
The US created a controversial quarantine center at Kenya’s Laikipia air base, where Americans returning from the Democratic Republic of the Congo would be required to quarantine.
asserted
Americans → create → Congo
The center, opposed by locals, has stirred distrust in the Kenyan government, leading to protests and a Kenyan court ordering a halt to the center.
“Many Kenyans were concerned about the fact that there was no information and people did not know why the quarantine place was being set up, who was actually going to use it, and what had informed that,” said Allan Maleche, executive director of the Kenya Legal & Ethical Issues Network on HIV and Aids (Kelin).
asserted
Maleche → oppose → HIV
The litigation will be decided in November, he said.
asserted
he → decide → November
In the meantime, Kenyans are “very cautious around any information that is being given by the government around Ebola”, Maleche said.
asserted
Maleche → give → Ebola
Americans who questioned whether the US has the legal authority to quarantine Americans on foreign soil and prevent them from returning home are pushing back against the quarantine center as Kenya faces its first Ebola cases.
asserted
Kenya → question → cases
“Is this still a viable solution for the US?” asked Jennifer Nuzzo, director of the pandemic center at Brown University school of public health.
asserted
Nuzzo → ask → health
“Are we posing not only an undue burden on the Kenyan government to be able to handle this, but also is this the safest place to be bringing Americans?”
asserted
this → pose → Americans
The US already has “world-class” Ebola treatment units, Nuzzo pointed out.
asserted
Nuzzo → have → units
“American taxpayers built these units for precisely this purpose, and it’s mind-boggling to me that we’re going to leave them empty,” she said.
asserted
she → build → them
In previous outbreaks, actively ill patients have been evacuated safely to these centers, where they have recovered without further spread of the virus.
asserted
they → evacuate → virus
The unease follows sweeping cuts to US health support across the world, with the demolition of the US Agency for International Development (USAID) and cuts to funding and staff at health agencies like the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
asserted
unease → follow → Control
On 1 October, the CDC closed HIV prevention offices in Angola and South Sudan, with plans to close offices in Zimbabwe.
asserted
CDC → close → Zimbabwe
The US has slashed programs across the world – including DR Congo, where the Ebola outbreak is centered, and other countries, like Kenya, bracing for cases as the outbreak widens.
asserted
outbreak → slash → cases
“We have had a lot of concerns after the US first cut funding for HIV promptly without any direction,” Maleche said.
asserted
Maleche → have → direction
“It led to clinics closing.
asserted
clinics → lead → ?
It led to a lot of anxiety among people.”
asserted
It → lead → people
The US is now negotiating bilateral agreements with each country, including Kenya – a process that has been mired in secrecy, Maleche said.
asserted
Maleche → negotiate → secrecy
“It’s not very clear what’s the plan, who’s rolling it out, and what will be involved.”
asserted
what → ’ → it
Cuts to decades-long programs mean the affected countries and the US have less insight into what’s happening, in addition to a lessened ability to prevent and stop outbreaks.
asserted
what → mean → outbreaks
“When you pull back on those, not only do you leave those countries less prepared to deal with that day-to-day threat, but it also means that they’re less prepared to deal with future emergencies,” Nuzzo said.
asserted
Nuzzo → pull → emergencies
The US officially left the World Health Organization (WHO) in January, making it much harder to collaborate on the response to crises like these.
asserted
it → leave → these
When the US left the WHO, it also “pulled out a substantial amount of funding”, said Maleche.
asserted
Maleche → leave → funding
That means the WHO’s response has also been “weakened”, he said.
asserted
he → mean → ?
A Kenyan man fell ill in DRC before traveling by road to Uganda and then flying to Nairobi on 3 October, where he died in a hospital two days later.
asserted
he → fall → hospital
On Wednesday, officials announced that a close contact – reportedly a 39-year-old man who is a family member of the first patient – developed symptoms while quarantining.
uncertain
who → announce → symptoms
And on Friday, officials announced a third case – a 65-year-old woman closely related to the first two patients.
asserted
officials → announce → patients
Kenya’s ministry of health pointed to the success of contact tracing and quarantine.
asserted
ministry → point → tracing
About 108 people have been quarantined in Nairobi.
asserted
people → quarantine → Nairobi
“The general feeling is that the contact tracing systems are working,” Maleche said.
asserted
Maleche → work → ?
But Kenyans are also wondering why there were “many lapses” that resulted in a sick person traveling across countries.
asserted
person → wonder → countries
The border between DRC and Uganda has been closed since May.
uncertain
border → close → May
Uganda was declared Ebola-free in August after earlier reporting 20 cases and two deaths.
asserted
Uganda → declare → cases
A French doctor who returned from DRC in June tested positive, and several Americans have been evacuated from DRC to Europe for Ebola treatment or monitoring.
asserted
Americans → return → treatment
In Kenya, “the biggest fear is around how will other countries react” to the outbreak, with travel bans a particular worry, Maleche said.
asserted
Maleche → react → outbreak
The US put travel bans in place from DRC and neighboring Uganda and South Sudan once the outbreak was detected in May, but it would be “very ironic” if the US instituted travel bans, given its quarantine center in Kenya
uncertain
US → put → Kenya
, Maleche said.
Senator Raphael Warnock, a Democrat from Georgia, and Senator Bill Cassidy, a Republican from Louisiana, penned a letter in June to the Senate appropriations committee opposing the Trump administration’s plans to cut back on HIV prevention and monitoring.
Dismantling of USAID, withdrawing from the WHO, and abruptly cutting foreign aid cuts is “degrading our outbreak preparedness” and has “seriously weakened our ability to keep Americans safe from infectious disease”, Warnock said in a statement.
asserted
Warnock → say → statement
“These cuts to global health funding have led to the erosion of international disease-monitoring infrastructure that helps us catch threats like Ebola before they reach our shores, at a time when the world needs American leadership most.”
asserted
world → lead → leadership
…and 7 more, not listed.
The Aporia
