Man shot during protest against proposed US Ebola quarantine facility in Kenya

A man has been shot in the head during a protest in a town in central Kenya against a proposed Ebola quarantine facility for US citizens.

Photographs from the scene appeared to show a person lying motionless on the ground. Dozens of people had gathered near Laikipia airbase, the proposed site of the centre in Nanyuki, 120 miles from the capital, Nairobi, some wearing protective equipment and carrying a coffin with “Ebola” written on it.

Several people were arrested and police used teargas to disperse the small crowds. Protesters have said they oppose the centre partly on the grounds that they do not want potential carriers of the highly contagious disease on Kenyan soil.

There has been rising nationwide anger in recent weeks. Two people were killed during a protest in the town on Monday last week.

The US government plans to send 30 medical personnel to staff the Nanyuki facility, which, if completed, will have 50 beds.

After a petition by the Kenyan nonprofit Katiba Institute, a Nairobi court late last month temporarily blocked the establishment of the facility and the admission into the country of people exposed to Ebola.

Last week, it barred the Kenyan government from proceeding with the plan before the case is resolved. The next hearing is due on 23 June.

Kenya’s president, William Ruto, has vowed to press ahead, saying the country owes Washington for years of aid support.

Health officials in Uganda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) are battling to contain an outbreak of the virus. The outbreak was declared on 15 May but the virus is thought to have been circulating undetected for weeks before then.

The epidemic, which the World Health Organization (WHO) has declared a public health emergency of international concern, is caused by the rare Bundibugyo virus, which has no vaccine or approved treatment.

As of 6 June, the DRC had reported a total of 515 confirmed cases, with 91 deaths, while Uganda had reported 19 confirmed cases, including two deaths, as well as one probable case who has died, according to WHO figures. There have been no known cases in Kenya.

Agence France-Presse contributed to this report