By Rebecca Odhiambo
A TikTok video posted from an account with the username @karis_gitau on July 18, 2026, claims that seven Ebola patients from the United States are already in quarantine at Laikipia Airbase in Kenya and that the US is providing food for them. The video features footage from a Citizen TV news report with the lower-third text reading: “EBOLA: AMERICANS IN NANYUKI” and “KANJAMA: THIS IS IMPUNITY AND DISREGARD FOR COURT ORDERS”.
The post had accumulated 54.3k views, 1126 likes, 99 comments, 63 saves and 641 shares at the time of review. The high number of views and engagement demonstrates that the claim has reached a wide audience and has the potential to influence public understanding of an important public health issue. A review of the account shows that it primarily posts news clips, political commentary, current affairs, and trending social and public interest stories.
Background
The claim emerged against the backdrop of an ongoing Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo, DRC, caused by the Bundibugyo strain of the virus, which carries a fatality rate of roughly 30-50%. The outbreak, confirmed by DRC’s Ministry of Health in mid-May 2026, spread rapidly through Ituri province, and by late June had led to over 1000 confirmed cases and hundreds of deaths, with growing fears it could cross into neighbouring Uganda.
As American aid workers, medical missionaries and health officials operated in the outbreak zone, the United States introduced temporary travel measures for Americans returning from the affected areas. Under the policy, US citizens who had worked in Ebola response efforts in the DRC were required to complete a 21-day quarantine in a third country before travelling back to the United States under the supervision of the US public health service.
Kenya was selected as that third country following direct diplomatic engagement; Secretary of State Marco Rubio held talks with President William Ruto, after which the US pledged $ 14.5 million towards Kenya’s preparedness efforts. Kenya’s government then authorized the US to establish a quarantine facility at Laikipia Air Base near the town at Nanyuki, roughly 124 miles from Nairobi.
News of the arrangement broke publicly in late May 2026 and immediately triggered backlash. Critics argued that Kenya, a country with zero recorded Ebola cases, was being turned into a risk-absorbing site for a crisis that wasn’t its own. Two civil society groups, the Katiba Institute and the Law Society of Kenya, filed urgent court petitions, arguing the deal was struck without transparency or public participation and posed serious public health risks. The High Court later issued conservatory orders temporarily blocking the establishment of any Ebola quarantine, isolation or treatment facility in Kenya and barred the admission or transfer of Ebola-exposed individuals into the country pending full hearing.
Despite the court order, construction and preparations at the base reportedly continued. This fueled a wave of protests in Nanyuki and across Laikipia County through late May and June, some of which turned deadly, with at least two people dying from gunshot wounds during the June 1, 2026, protest, and a 17-year-old was later reported killed during continued arrest. Health Cabinet Secretary Aden Duale was eventually summoned to court for contempt over the continued activity at the site, and at one point told the court that construction had been halted pending the case’s determination.
Verification
On July 13, 2026, seven American aid workers from the humanitarian organisation, Samaritan’s Purse, became the first occupants of the Laikipia Air Base facility after returning from Ebola response work in the DRC. According to the organisation, the workers were placed under medical observation for the mandatory 21-day quarantine because they had potentially been exposed to Ebola and not because they had been diagnosed with the disease. At the time they entered quarantine, all seven were reported to be asymptomatic, indicating they had not tested positive for or displayed symptoms of Ebola, with the United States military providing food and structural support for them.
The Citizen TV chyron shown in the post is authentic to real-time reporting by Citizen TV Kenya, covering the legal uproar and comments by LSK President Charles Kanjama on the lower third text. However, the overlay text added by the TikTok user mislabels the individuals as patients. While the Citizen TV report discussed the arrival of the aid workers at the facility in Laikipia, and highlighted the ongoing controversy surrounding the facility, it did not state that the seven individuals were confirmed Ebola patients.
Verdict
The claim that seven Ebola patients from the United States are already in quarantine at Laikipia Air Base is MISLEADING.
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