Seven American aid workers who were in Congo fighting the Ebola outbreak are now quarantining at a new isolation facility in Kenya after the US government introduced travel restrictions, the head of the US charity employing them told Reuters.

The aid workers are the first known people to quarantine at the facility, which has sparked huge opposition in Kenya and is at the heart of a legal case where a court ordered work to be suspended. Construction continued, however, according to US officials and satellite imagery reviewed by Reuters.

Washington's new policy requires American citizens returning from the Democratic Republic of Congo, where there is an Ebola outbreak, to spend three weeks in a third country before entering the United States. The US government is building a 50-bed bio-isolation unit on an air force base in central Kenya for asymptomatic Americans exposed to the virus.

Franklin Graham, president of Samaritan's Purse, told Reuters that none of the workers have symptoms, but they are being quarantined by the Kenyan government for 21 days. A US State Department official said the group voluntarily moved to the facility for precautionary monitoring, with Kenyan authorities authorizing their movement.

Kenyan health ministry officials did not immediately respond to requests for comment. A source familiar with the matter said the group arrived at the site on Monday and is sleeping in army cots in tents. Some had treated Ebola patients, while others performed construction work with no direct contact with the sick.

Source: www.theguardian.com