US Cautions Citizens Against Travel to Kenya Over Ebola, Terrorism and Kidnapping

The United States has sharply raised its travel warning for Kenya months after American officials funded a controversial Ebola quarantine centre in the country.

The facility sparked protests, deepened public distrust of the Kenyan government, and is now being fought over in court.

The State Department elevated Kenya's travel advisory to Level 3 on 19 October 2026, urging citizens to reconsider travel due to a mix of health risks, crime, kidnapping, terrorism, civil unrest and road safety concerns.

Within the broader Level 3 advisory, a number of specific locations were pushed even further, to a Level 4 "Do Not Travel" designation.

In Nairobi, the neighbourhoods of Eastleigh and Kibera were singled out over heightened crime and kidnapping risks.

At county level, Americans were told to avoid Garissa, Wajir, Mandera, Lamu, Tana River (apart from Tsavo National Park), parts of Kilifi north of highway C103, and coastal areas north of Malindi, due to kidnapping and terrorism threats.

West Pokot and western Turkana were also flagged over crime, while sections of Marsabit and Turkana within 50 kilometres of the Ethiopian border were listed because of unrest linked to cross-border incursions.

A major factor behind the updated advisory was a Travel Health Notice issued by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, flagging Ebola Bundibugyo Virus Disease in Kenya, which is now facing its first confirmed cases of the virus.

The CDC separately flagged an Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo, which the World Health Organisation declared a Public Health Emergency of International Concern on 17 May.

The State Department also pointed to Kenya's limited medical infrastructure, particularly in rural areas, where facilities often lack adequate medicine and equipment.

Many health emergencies, it warned, may require medical evacuation at the traveller's own expense, with hospitals frequently demanding upfront payment before treatment.

The advisory listed several other risks facing visitors, including armed carjacking, mugging, home invasion, sexual assault and kidnapping for ransom, crimes the State Department said could happen at any time.

Petty crime remains widespread in crowded areas, with motorcycle-borne robbers identified as a particular concern.

Terrorist groups, the advisory added, continue plotting attacks on government buildings, hotels, shopping malls, transport hubs, places of worship and tourist sites, often without warning.

Investment fraud targeting Americans, especially scams involving gold and other high-value commodities, was also flagged, alongside property disputes in which some US citizens have reportedly lost land, businesses or church investments to rival local claims.

Protests and strikes were described as common across the country and capable of turning violent, with incidents of rock-throwing and the use of deadly force by police recorded in Nairobi and western Kenya.

Travellers who still choose to visit were advised to enrol in the Smart Traveller Enrolment Program, prepare personal evacuation plans, and take out travel insurance that includes medical evacuation cover.

Behind the advisory lies a deeper controversy that has played out over the past few months, centred on a US-built Ebola quarantine facility at Kenya's Laikipia airbase.

The centre was built to hold Americans returning from the Democratic Republic of Congo, requiring them to quarantine on Kenyan soil before continuing their journey home.

The plan was met with fierce opposition from local residents, who said they were given little explanation about why the facility was being built, who would use it, or what had driven the decision.

That lack of information has fuelled protests and eroded public confidence in how the Kenyan government has handled the matter.

"Many Kenyans were concerned about the fact that there was no information and people did not know why the quarantine place was being set up, who was actually going to use it, and what had informed that," said Allan Maleche, executive director of the Kenya Legal & Ethical Issues Network on HIV and Aids (Kelin).

A Kenyan court has since ordered a halt to the centre's operations, following a legal challenge brought by rights groups. According to Maleche, the case is expected to be decided in November.

In the meantime, he said, Kenyans remain "very cautious around any information that is being given by the government around Ebola."

The controversy has not been limited to Kenya. In the US, questions have also been raised over whether the American government has the legal authority to quarantine its own citizens on foreign soil and prevent them from returning home, with some Americans pushing back against the centre even as Kenya now grapples with its first confirmed Ebola cases.

The advisory comes months after a separate court battle over the same facility.

In May, a Kenyan court suspended US plans to open the 50-bed Ebola quarantine centre, to be staffed by US medics.

The facility had been due to begin operations that Friday, according to an American official, though the Kenyan government never directly commented on the plan.

Rights group Katiba Institute challenged the arrangement in court, warning it posed "grave and imminent risks" to public health.

A High Court judge subsequently barred any foreign government from operating an Ebola facility in Kenya until the case could be heard in full.

American authorities never disclosed the exact location of the planned centre, but lawmakers in Laikipia County raised strong objections after reports suggested it would be built in their area.

MPs demanded clarity from the government, saying they saw "no logic" in Kenya, or Laikipia specifically, hosting such a facility. Laikipia Governor Joshua Irungu also voiced his opposition at the time.

Satellite imagery of an air base in Laikipia later showed that an area roughly the size of three football pitches had been cleared within a single week, though the purpose of the earthworks was never officially explained.