US preparing Ebola quarantine center in Kenya: WSJ

The United States plans to open a quarantine center in Kenya, the Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday, as a deadly Ebola outbreak surges in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

The facility is primarily intended for Americans who test positive for the virus or have been exposed to it, the WSJ said, citing people familiar with the matter.

The center would be for Americans "who would need to quickly get out of DRC and quarantine," the newspaper quoted one administration official as saying.

The World Health Organization has recorded 10 confirmed Ebola deaths, 220 suspected deaths and 900 suspected cases in the DRC since mid-May.

The quarantine center was awaiting sign-off on Tuesday from authorities in Kenya, where no cases of the disease have been confirmed, the WSJ said.

The news comes after a US doctor who contracted Ebola while working in DRC was flown to Germany last week.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said last week that lawful US permanent residents who have been in the DRC, Uganda or South Sudan within the last 21 days cannot enter the United States.

No vaccine or treatment exists for the Bundibugyo strain of Ebola responsible for the central African country's 17th recorded outbreak of the disease.