Americans who get Ebola will go to Europe for treatment, not U.S., officials say

Health newsAmericans who get Ebola will go to Europe for treatment, not U.S., officials sayTrump administration officials said the CDC and State Department are working to figure out where those treatment facilities could be.Listen to this article with a free account00:0000:00Workers load World Health Organization emergency supplies onto a United Nations plane in Nairobi, Kenya, on May 20.Andrew Kasuku / AP fileShareAdd NBC News to GoogleMay 28, 2026, 3:53 PM EDTBy Sara G. MillerIf more Americans contract Ebola and need advanced medical care, they will be sent to Europe rather than brought to the U.S., senior administration officials said Thursday.Subscribe to read this story ad-free Get unlimited access to ad-free articles and exclusive content.The announcement is the latest in a series of moves Trump administration officials have made to keep Americans exposed to or infected with Ebola out of the country amid the ongoing outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Already, the U.S. has set up a facility in Kenya for any Americans exposed. It is set to open Friday with 50 quarantine beds.The facility is expected to expand to have isolation and biocontainment units for people who test positive, but those sick individuals will not stay in Kenya — nor will they return to the United States, the officials said. Instead, they will go to as-of-yet unidentified European countries.Add NBC News to GoogleWhite House vows to keep Ebola out of U.S.01:54“The [Centers for Disease Control and Prevention] is working with the Department of State to identify where that facility or facilities might be,” a senior administration official said.The administration has maintained that shorter flight times to Europe are the reason why Americans who get Ebola will be sent there for care. The only American who has tested positive so far, a surgeon who had been working at a Congo hospital, was flown to Germany.“It is much better to be able to transport them to a facility that takes a short...