US Ebola facility halted, Kenya health minister tells court

NAIROBI: Kenya has ordered a halt to preparations for a US-run Ebola quarantine facility, the health minister told a court Tuesday after being held in contempt for ignoring a previous stop-work order.

“I have directed the immediate and complete cessation of any intended construction, site preparation, or related activities concerning the Laikipia Air Base facility pending the hearing and determination of the substantive petition or until further orders of this court,” health minister Aden Duale said.

The United States had been building a facility at the air base in case it needed to evacuate its citizens from areas affected by the Ebola outbreak, which began in the Democratic Republic of Congo last month.

-AFP