WHO Declares Congo-Uganda Ebola Emergency After 220 Deaths as US Aid Cuts Crippled Surveillance
Updated
Updated · Vox.com · May 27
WHO Declares Congo-Uganda Ebola Emergency After 220 Deaths as US Aid Cuts Crippled Surveillance
15 articles · Updated · Vox.com · May 27
May 17 marked WHO’s declaration of a public health emergency of international concern for the Ebola outbreak in Congo and Uganda—only the ninth such designation—as deaths topped 220 and suspected cases exceeded 900.
The outbreak spread unusually fast because the Bundibugyo strain is harder to diagnose, emerged in conflict-hit eastern Congo, and hit after US-funded Ebola detection and response programs were frozen or cut.
$10 million in US Health Department funding to Congo last year, down from $33 million, and USAID aid of $693 million, down from nearly $1.2 billion in 2024, left testing, staffing and protective supplies badly weakened.
The US has since pledged $23 million in emergency aid, sent a disaster response team and expanded CDC involvement, but health officials say the virus already has a major head start and cases are likely undercounted.
Researchers are racing to develop a vaccine for the strain, yet rollout will take months, while former CDC chief Robert Redfield warned the outbreak could spread beyond Congo and Uganda to neighbors including Tanzania and South Sudan.
As a deadly Ebola strain spreads with no vaccine, how is the world racing against time to stop it?
After key pandemic prevention programs were dismantled, can the global health system still win the fight against Ebola?