Externalised Containment: Health Sovereignty, Constitutional Process and Bilateral Biosecurity Arrangements in the Laikipia Ebola Facility Dispute
##plugins.themes.bootstrap3.article.main##
Abstract
Bilateral arrangements that place biocontainment infrastructure in one state for the primary benefit of another state’s nationals have received little systematic attention in the global health security literature. This narrative and critical review examines the dispute surrounding the United States backed Ebola quarantine and isolation facility at Laikipia Air Base in Kenya, established during the 2026 Bundibugyo virus disease emergency in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Uganda. Evidence was drawn from peer reviewed literature, World Health Organization and European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control outbreak reporting, Kenyan constitutional litigation, ministerial statements, national preparedness assessments and contemporaneous reporting from established news organisations. The review reconstructs the chronology of the arrangement, analyses the constitutional litigation brought under the public participation and access to information provisions of the Constitution of Kenya, and evaluates the arrangement against established criteria for the ethical justification of liberty limiting public health measures. It then introduces the Externalised Containment Risk Model, an original framework specifying four dimensions along which biosecurity risk transfers between states: locational displacement, beneficiary asymmetry, procedural bypass and capacity externality, with legitimacy erosion identified as the principal downstream outcome pathway. Application of the model to the Laikipia case indicates elevated scores across all four dimensions, a configuration that distinguishes it from earlier civil and military arrangements such as the treatment centre for health workers operated in Conakry during the West African epidemic. National preparedness data published by Kenyan authorities during the same period recorded an overall Ebola readiness score of 66 per cent, with case management identified as the weakest domain. The review concludes that host state negotiating frameworks, mandatory procedural safeguards and enforceable capacity reciprocity conditions are required before comparable arrangements are contemplated elsewhere.
Publish Your Research in This Journal
Open Journal of Food, Agriculture and Biotechnology welcomes original research submissions on related topics.
- Double-blind peer review
- First decision in 3–4 weeks
- DOI assigned on publication
- Open Access — free to read
##plugins.themes.bootstrap3.article.details##
References
Abimbola, S., & Pai, M. (2020). Will global health survive its decolonisation? The Lancet, 396(10263), 1627–1628. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(20)32417-X
Abuora, G. (2026, June 7). Kenya dispatch: High Court suspends US-backed Ebola quarantine facility. Jurist. https://www.jurist.org/news/2026/06/kenya-dispatch-high-court-suspends-us-backed-ebola-quarantine-facility/
Al Jazeera Staff, & Reuters. (2026, June 2). High Court orders Kenya government to release details of Ebola facility. Al Jazeera. https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/6/2/high-court-orders-kenya-government-to-release-details-of-ebola-facility
Allen, T., & Parker, M. (2024). In the line of duty: Militarising African epidemics. Global Policy, 15(S4), 97–108. https://doi.org/10.1111/1758-5899.13297
Büyüm, A. M., Kenney, C., Koris, A., Mkumba, L., & Raveendran, Y. (2020). Decolonising global health: If not now, when? BMJ Global Health, 5(8), e003394. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjgh-2020-003394
Chelangat, M., & Mutai, K. (2026, July 12). Puzzle of Kenya prepared to detect Ebola, but not fully ready to fight it. Daily Nation. https://nation.africa/kenya/health/puzzle-of-kenya-prepared-to-detect-ebola-but-not-fully-ready-to-fight-it-5524724
Chelangat, M., & Oketch, A. (2026, June 8). Ebola facility: State officials risk contempt proceedings. Daily Nation. https://nation.africa/kenya/news/ebola-facility-state-officials-risk-contempt-proceedings--5489672
Chretien, J.-P., Blazes, D. L., Coldren, R. L., Lewis, M. D., Gaywee, J., Kana, K., Sirisopana, N., Vallejos, V., Mundaca, C. C., Montano, S., Martin, G. J., & Gaydos, J. C. (2007). The importance of militaries from developing countries in global infectious disease surveillance. Bulletin of the World Health Organization, 85(3), 174–180. https://doi.org/10.2471/BLT.06.037101
Constitution of Kenya, 2010, Government of Kenya (2010). https://www.parliament.go.ke/sites/default/files/2023-03/The_Constitution_of_Kenya_2010.pdf
Dindart, J.-M., Peyrouset, O., Palich, R., Bing, A., Kojan, R., Barbe, S., Harouna, S., & Blackwell, N. (2016). Aerial medical evacuation of health workers with suspected Ebola virus disease in Guinea Conakry-interest of a negative pressure isolation pod-a case series. BMC Emergency Medicine, 17(1), 9. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12873-017-0121-x
ECDC. (2026, July 21). Ebola disease outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Uganda. https://www.ecdc.europa.eu/en/ebola-outbreak-democratic-republic-congo-and-uganda
Edwin, M. (2025, November 21). Africa CDC Unveils a New Vision for Health Security and Sovereignty Across the Continent. Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention. https://africacdc.org/news-item/africa-cdc-unveils-a-new-vision-for-health-security-and-sovereignty-across-the-continent/
Fairhead, J. (2016). Understanding Social Resistance to the Ebola Response in the Forest Region of the Republic of Guinea: An Anthropological Perspective. African Studies Review, 59(3), 7–31. https://doi.org/10.1017/asr.2016.87
Gostin, L. O., & Katz, R. (2016). The International Health Regulations: The Governing Framework for Global Health Security: The International Health Regulations. The Milbank Quarterly, 94(2), 264–313. https://doi.org/10.1111/1468-0009.12186
Hanrieder, T., & Kreuder-Sonnen, C. (2014). WHO decides on the exception? Securitization and emergency governance in global health. Security Dialogue, 45(4), 331–348. https://doi.org/10.1177/0967010614535833
Jovanovic, D. (2026, July 18). 7 Americans at US-backed Ebola isolation facility in Kenya, charity group says. ABC News. https://abcnews.com/International/7-americans-us-backed-ebola-isolation-facility-kenya/story?id=134861044
Kamradt-Scott, A. (2016). WHO’s to blame? The World Health Organization and the 2014 Ebola outbreak in West Africa. Third World Quarterly, 37(3), 401–418. https://doi.org/10.1080/01436597.2015.1112232
Katiba Institute. (2026, May 28). Katiba Institute Files a Petition Challenging the Proposed Establishment of Ebola Quarantine and Treatment Facilities in Kenya. Katiba Institute. https://katibainstitute.org/katiba-institute-files-a-petition-challenging-the-proposed-establishment-of-ebola-quarantine-and-treatment-facilities-in-kenya/
Lawrence, D. S., & Hirsch, L. A. (2020). Decolonising global health: Transnational research partnerships under the spotlight. International Health, 12(6), 518–523. https://doi.org/10.1093/inthealth/ihaa073
Madowo, L., Kent, L., & Princewill, N. (2026, May 28). Proposed US Ebola facility in Kenya sparks backlash at home and abroad. CNN. https://www.cnn.com/2026/05/28/world/ebola-kenya-health-facility-criticism-intl
Magee, C. (2026, May 29). Kenyan court suspends US Ebola quarantine facility plan. Al Jazeera. https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/5/29/kenyan-court-suspends-us-ebola-quarantine-facility-plan
McInnes, C., & Roemer-Mahler, A. (2017). From security to risk: Reframing global health threats. International Affairs, 93(6), 1313–1337. https://doi.org/10.1093/ia/iix187
Michaud, J., Moss, K., Licina, D., Waldman, R., Kamradt-Scott, A., Bartee, M., Lim, M., Williamson, J., Burkle, F., Polyak, C. S., Thomson, N., Heymann, D. L., & Lillywhite, L. (2019). Militaries and global health: Peace, conflict, and disaster response. The Lancet, 393(10168), 276–286. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(18)32838-1
Ministry of Health. (2026, July 2). Kenya Strengthens Ebola Preparedness Through Enhanced Coordination with Partners. Ministry of Health. https://www.health.go.ke/kenya-strengthens-ebola-preparedness-through-enhanced-coordination-partners
Mwangi, I. (2026, July 18). Katiba Institute Accuses Government of Defying Court Orders Over Ebola Quarantine Facility. Capital FM Kenya. https://capitalfm.africa/katiba-institute-accuses-government-of-defying-court-orders-over-ebola-quarantine-facility/
Nguyen, V.-K. (2019). An Epidemic of Suspicion: Ebola and Violence in the DRC. New England Journal of Medicine, 380(14), 1298–1299. https://doi.org/10.1056/NEJMp1902682
Nicolosi, S. F. (2024). Externalisation of Migration Controls: A Taxonomy of Practices and Their Implications in International and European Law. Netherlands International Law Review, 71(1), 1–20. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40802-024-00253-9
Okereke, E. (2026). From crisis response to country control: Restoring agency and sustainability in global health. PLOS Medicine, 23(3), e1004961. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1004961
Ooms, G., Beiersmann, C., Flores, W., Hanefeld, J., Müller, O., Mulumba, M., Ottersen, T., Sarker, M., & Jahn, A. (2017). Synergies and tensions between universal health coverage and global health security: Why we need a second ‘Maximizing Positive Synergies’ initiative. BMJ Global Health, 2(1), e000217. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjgh-2016-000217
Osborne, A. (2025). Rethinking global health financing: From philanthropy to public good. Global Health Research and Policy, 10(1), 63. https://doi.org/10.1186/s41256-025-00462-6
Oti, S. O., & Ncayiyana, J. (2021). Decolonising global health: Where are the Southern voices? BMJ Global Health, 6(7), e006576. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjgh-2021-006576
Rushton, S. (2011). Global Health Security: Security for whom? Security from what? Political Studies, 59(4), 779–796. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9248.2011.00919.x
Sochas, L., Channon, A. A., & Nam, S. (2017). Counting indirect crisis-related deaths in the context of a low-resilience health system: The case of maternal and neonatal health during the Ebola epidemic in Sierra Leone. Health Policy and Planning, 32(suppl_3), iii32–iii39. https://doi.org/10.1093/heapol/czx108
Soucheray, S. (2026, June 23). Construction of US-backed Ebola quarantine unit in Kenya is stopped. Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy. https://www.cidrap.umn.edu/ebola/construction-us-backed-ebola-quarantine-unit-kenya-stopped
Upshur, R. (2003). The Ethics of Quarantine. AMA Journal of Ethics, 5(11), 523–526. https://doi.org/10.1001/virtualmentor.2003.5.11.msoc1-0311
Wagenaar, B. H., Augusto, O., Beste, J., Toomay, S. J., Wickett, E., Dunbar, N., Bawo, L., & Wesseh, C. S. (2018). The 2014–2015 Ebola virus disease outbreak and primary healthcare delivery in Liberia: Time-series analyses for 2010–2016. PLOS Medicine, 15(2), e1002508. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1002508
Wangui, J. (2026, June 22). US Ebola facility: Court finds Duale in contempt, summoned for sentencing. Daily Nation. https://nation.africa/kenya/news/us-ebola-facility-court-finds-duale-in-contempt-summoned-for-sentencing-5505074
Wenham, C. (2019). The oversecuritization of global health: Changing the terms of debate. International Affairs, 95(5), 1093–1110. https://doi.org/10.1093/ia/iiz170
WHO. (2025, September 10). Joint external evaluation of the International Health Regulations (2005) core capacities of Kenya: Mission report, 9–13 September 2024. World Health Organization. https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/9789240114265
WHO. (2026a, May 21). Ebola disease caused by Bundibugyo virus – Democratic Republic of the Congo. World Health Organization. https://www.who.int/emergencies/disease-outbreak-news/item/2026-DON603
WHO. (2026b, June 19). Ebola disease caused by Bundibugyo virus, Democratic Republic of the Congo & Uganda. World Health Organization. https://www.who.int/emergencies/disease-outbreak-news/item/2026-DON608
WHO. (2026c, July). Ebola Bundibugyo virus disease outbreak, Democratic Republic of the Congo and Uganda: Weekly external situation report 11. World Health Organization Regional Office for Africa. https://www.afro.who.int/countries/democratic-republic-of-congo/publication/ebola-bundibugyo-virus-disease-outbreak-3
Zumla, A., Nachega, J. B., Ntoumi, F., Traore, T., Mfinanga, S., Yeboah-Manu, D., Ansumana, R., Mwaba, P., Asogun, D., Zumla, A., Omer, M., & Bockarie, M. (2026). Rebuilding community trust after attacks on Ebola treatment facilities in DRC: Lessons from previous epidemics. International Journal of Infectious Diseases, 170, 108837. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijid.2026.108837
##plugins.themes.bootstrap3.article.sidebar##
Article metrics
- Abstract Views 178
- PDF Downloads 0
- Total Engagements 178
How to Cite
How to Cite
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.