The United States’ rapid slashing of foreign aid, including that of the US Agency for International Development (USAID), is having severe consequences worldwide. In the Democratic Republic of Congo, an unidentified illness with Ebola-like symptoms has killed over 60 people and sickened more than a thousand, coinciding with an Ebola outbreak in neighboring Uganda.
Experts blame Elon Musk’s dismantling of USAID, which led to the termination of medical staff at the border of Uganda and DRC, as well as the emptying of laboratories equipped to deal with zoonotic diseases. This has created a gap in the on-the-ground response to contain further outbreaks.
Tim Allen, a tropical-disease-control expert, notes that USAID provided key infrastructure for disease surveillance and prevention, which is now lacking. Nidhi Bouri, former deputy assistant administrator for global health at USAID, agrees that the aid cuts have created a vacuum that other agencies will struggle to fill.
The World Health Organization suspects that the unidentified illness could be a mass-poisoning incident rather than a virus, with contaminated water as a likely source. Local health officials hypothesize that this may be the case again, citing previous instances of outbreaks in the DRC.
In 2024, the US Congress allocated $795 million for malaria control, but Elon Musk’s DOGE directed the swift dismantling of most of it. This move has led to concerns about increased malaria cases and deaths.
The consequences of these aid cuts are stark, with 11 million lives saved in 2024 alone through US health activities. Experts warn that rebuilding a pillar of international infectious disease response will be difficult, even if the administration reconsidered its decision on humanitarian aid.
The rapid removal of USAID’s lifesaving work has been documented in an internal memo, which highlights the agency’s inability to deliver life-saving activities due to inadequate waivers administered by the State Department. This confirms earlier reports about the botched Ebola response despite Musk’s claims that DOGE had “fixed” mistakes.
The global health crisis sparked by US foreign aid cuts serves as a reminder that disease and illness do not respect borders, and monitoring and containing illnesses is crucial for national security reasons.
Source: https://www.wired.com/story/race-to-identify-drcs-mystery-illness-slowed-by-us-aid-cuts-democratic-republic-congo-usaid