WHO Declares Ebola Emergency After 530 Cases as US Aid Cuts Cripple Response
Updated
Updated · WIRED · May 20
WHO Declares Ebola Emergency After 530 Cases as US Aid Cuts Cripple Response
21 articles · Updated · WIRED · May 20
May 16 brought a WHO international emergency declaration as the Bundibugyo Ebola outbreak topped 530 confirmed cases and 134 deaths by May 19, with infections already reaching Kampala from eastern Congo.
US aid cuts have left responders short of masks, sanitizer, testing components and staff, according to health workers who say shuttering USAID and cuts at CDC slowed detection and containment.
That strain has no approved vaccine or treatment, and CDC says 25% to 50% of infected patients die, raising pressure to contain spread along the Congo-Uganda border during heavy cross-border travel.
USAID had helped treat 11 million people for major diseases in Congo in 2024 and supported six earlier Ebola responses, while the US withdrawal from WHO in January 2026 deepened funding and staffing gaps.
Experts told WIRED the outbreak could have been caught earlier without the cuts and warned that, if not controlled quickly, cases could spread further in Africa and potentially reach the US.
WHO calls the global Ebola risk low, yet declared an international emergency. What is the real threat?
With no vaccine for this rare Ebola strain, how can the deadly outbreak in Congo be stopped?