{"id":91,"date":"2026-05-20T04:36:53","date_gmt":"2026-05-20T04:36:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newhomeamerica.com\/?p=91"},"modified":"2026-05-20T04:36:53","modified_gmt":"2026-05-20T04:36:53","slug":"ebola-outbreak-rages-after-trump-gutted-global-health-safeguards","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newhomeamerica.com\/?p=91","title":{"rendered":"Ebola Outbreak Rages After Trump Gutted Global Health Safeguards"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The World Health Organization\u2019s<\/span> chief said on Tuesday that he was \u201cdeeply concerned about the scale and speed\u201d of an\u00a0Ebola outbreak\u00a0in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Uganda that has resulted in a spike in deaths \u2014 to at least 130 \u2014 and more than 500 suspected cases. The outbreak is complicated by the rare strain of the disease, known as Bundibugyo, that standard field tests often miss and for which there are no vaccines or therapeutics.<\/p>\n

Read more Thomas Massie Loses His Seat in a Win for Trump \u2014\u00a0and AIPAC<\/a><\/p>\n

Experts say Trump administration policies \u2014 like dismantling the U.S. Agency for International Development and withdrawing from WHO \u2014 have further undermined global health security and negatively impacted the response to the outbreak. WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus warned of emerging cases in urban areas, including reports of cases in Uganda\u2019s capital, Kampala, and Goma, a crossroads city in Congo that borders Rwanda.<\/p>\n

The Intercept reported on the porous borders and worrying \u00a0public health responses in Goma during an Ebola outbreak in 2019. At the time Anthony Fauci \u2014 then the head of the U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases \u2014 laid out the dangers of Ebola spreading in that urban center. \u201cSince Goma is a city of millions of people, and since it has an international airport, it is a great concern,\u201d he explained. \u201cIf Ebola could get into Goma and spread in Goma, that increases the likelihood that it could spread beyond the DRC into neighboring and distant countries.\u201d<\/p>\n

Experts have expressed alarm that the virus has been spreading undetected\u00a0for weeks at least \u2014 and likely months \u2014 in Ituri Province, a remote area of eastern Congo that borders South Sudan and Uganda. The region, long riven by conflict, is home to many displaced persons and a haven for itinerant workers and smuggling operations. It has weak medical and public health infrastructure, making contact tracing is extremely difficult.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe province of Ituri is highly insecure. \u2026 Conflict has intensified since late 2025, and fighting has escalated significantly over the past two months, resulting in civilian deaths. Over 100,000 people have been newly displaced, and in Ebola outbreaks, you know what displacement means,\u201d said Tedros. \u201cThe area is also a mining zone, with high levels of population movement that increase the risk of further spread.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Previously, USAID supported NGOs and healthcare workers in rural communities on the front lines of such outbreaks. \u201cThey\u2019re the people standing between us and disaster,\u201d said Margaret Harris, a former senior WHO official and a medical doctor who responded to Ebola outbreaks in West Africa in the mid-2010s and Congo in the late 2010s.<\/p>\n

Harris praised the past work of USAID, and the U.S. in general, in responding to previous outbreaks of Ebola. This current outbreak can be managed, she said, but that it will take funding, training, equipment, and supplies \u2014 like personal protective equipment, medications, and fluids \u2014 for local healthcare workers. Harris, now a global health specialist at the United Nations Institute for Training and Research said that while some might argue that governments should pay for their own healthcare workers, she noted such front-line personnel provide a service that extends far beyond a nation\u2019s borders. \u201cThey are protecting global health security,\u201d she told The Intercept, adding: \u201cAnd they were also simply doing good for ordinary people.\u201d<\/p>\n

A U.S. government official with experience working with foreign non-governmental organizations, who spoke on background because they were not authorized to talk with the press on the subject, told The Intercept on Tuesday that there was \u201cno question\u201d Trump administration policies have helped to undermine the global public health response. This indictment was echoed by Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn, the ranking member on the House Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies subcommittee.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Trump administration has systematically dismantled much of our global health infrastructure, without giving a thought to the consequences. Now, we are seeing those consequences play out,\u201d DeLauro told The Intercept, noting that the administration dissolved USAID, cut the United States off from the WHO, and carried out mass layoffs across the domestic global public health space.<\/p>\n

Read more Trump\u2019s \u201cAnti-Weaponization\u201d Fund Is a Handout to His Hardcore Supporters<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cThis will not be the last outbreak of a deadly infectious disease,\u201d DeLauro said. \u201cWe must invest in global health infrastructure. Not only to be reliable and effective partners, but to be prepared for the next outbreak. In public health, isolation is not a strategy. Infectious diseases do not respect political borders.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

On Monday, the State Department announced that on \u201cMay 15, 2026,\u00a0within 24 hours of learning of the confirmed cases, the Department\u00a0leveraged its outbreak response and humanitarian assistance capabilities.\u201d The WHO actually issued an alert of a high-mortality outbreak in Ituri, which included deaths among healthcare workers, 10 days prior. On May 14, blood samples were finally analyzed across the country, in Congo\u2019s capital, Kinshasa. A day later, the analysis confirmed Bundibugyo virus disease, a strain of Ebola.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI cannot help but wonder if the administration had not taken such drastic action to dismantle so much of our global health infrastructure, that we would have been able to identify this outbreak earlier and stop it from spreading as much as it has,\u201d DeLauro said in a separate press release.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is false to claim that the USAID reform has negatively impacted our ability to respond to Ebola,\u201d a State Department spokesperson told The Intercept. \u201cIn fact, by bringing USAID global health functions under the new GHSD bureau at the State Department, our efforts are more aligned and effective. Funding and support to combat Ebola continue, working with allies and partners.\u201d<\/p>\n

When asked about the lag between the first notification of a disease outbreak and the U.S. response, the spokesperson did not reply to multiple requests for comment.<\/p>\n

On his first day back in office last year, Trump began the process of withdrawing the U.S. from the WHO and cutting all funding for the U.N. health agency. \u201cWorld Health ripped us off,\u201d Trump said at the time. The withdrawal process was completed January of this year.<\/p>\n

Tedros announced that WHO has a team on the ground supporting the national responses to the African outbreak, noting his organization had \u201cdeployed people, supplies, equipment and funds,\u201d including millions from an emergency fund.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe outbreaks of Ebola and hantavirus in the past two weeks show why international threats need an international response,\u201d Tedros said on Tuesday, also referring to the recent outbreak on an expedition cruise ship of a\u00a0rare virus carried by rodents. \u201cThey show why the world needs the international health regulations, and why it needs WHO.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more Xavier Becerra Pushed to Inflate a Black Man\u2019s IQ to Execute Him as California AG<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cThe outbreaks of Ebola and hantavirus in the past two weeks show why international threats need an international response.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":90,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-91","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newhomeamerica.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/91","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newhomeamerica.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newhomeamerica.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newhomeamerica.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newhomeamerica.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=91"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/newhomeamerica.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/91\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newhomeamerica.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/90"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newhomeamerica.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=91"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newhomeamerica.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=91"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newhomeamerica.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=91"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}