Kenya Ebola ban: Nairobi challenges Saudi visa and travel halt

Kenya has formally protested Saudi Arabia’s Ebola restrictions, a Kenya Ebola ban that Nairobi calls disproportionate and short of scientific support.

Riyadh suspended travel to and from the country and stopped visas for Kenyans, according to a diplomatic note that Kenya’s foreign ministry sent on October 30.

What the Kenya Ebola ban covers

Riyadh announced the suspension on Friday to prevent Ebola from spreading. Kenya’s note followed within hours. Kenya’s foreign ministry urged Riyadh to reconsider and scrap the curbs.

The Kenya Ebola ban halts visas and bars anyone who spent time in Kenya in the previous 21 days. Kenya calls this a blanket and punitive step that goes beyond what the health situation justifies.

Nairobi accepts that Saudi Arabia may adopt health measures to protect its people. Even so, it argued that the decision ignores the progress Kenya has made against the disease.

Kenya’s case against the Kenya Ebola ban

Kenya’s government said that its nine confirmed cases form a single cluster tied to one imported infection. Every secondary patient was already in quarantine when symptoms began, it said, and no community spread exists.

Seven patients still receive treatment and respond well to supportive care, the note said. Doctors expect to discharge them on November 3.

Officials have traced all 135 contacts and monitored them daily since the outbreak. The first group finished the mandatory 21-day quarantine and left on October 26, and 46 more should finish on November 3 if they stay negative.

Kenya also cited the World Health Organization. The agency judged the country’s response professional, diligent and transparent, the note said, and it advised against travel and trade restrictions. It rated the risk outside Congo and its neighbours as low.

Impact of the Kenya Ebola ban on pilgrims and trade

The ministry warned that the restrictions will hurt Kenyans who travel to the kingdom for pilgrimage, jobs, study and business. It said trade and tourism ties will also suffer.

Officials also asked Saudi Arabia’s national contact point to give the WHO a scientific justification within 48 hours, under Regulation 43 of the International Health Regulations.

Africa CDC backs Nairobi

The Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention supported Kenya’s response. Its director general, Jean Kaseya, said outbreak measures should follow science, proportionality, transparency and international cooperation.

“Our concern is not with the objective of protecting populations,” the agency said. It objected to broad travel restrictions as a main public health tool during an outbreak.

Also, Kaseya argued that the fastest way to protect every country is to support outbreak control at the source. The agency also warned that bans can push people onto informal, unmonitored routes, which could raise health risks.

Africa CDC asked governments in and beyond Africa to skip needless travel and trade limits. In its view, such limits harm economies and make countries wary of reporting infections openly.

For now, the Kenya Ebola ban remains in force, and Nairobi says it will keep pressing Riyadh to lift the measures.