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+--- Thread: Article US is ‘simply choosing not to stop’ Ebola outbreak after massive public health cuts (/thread-20486.html)
US is ‘simply choosing not to stop’ Ebola outbreak after massive public health cuts - C C - May 22, 2026
US is ‘simply choosing not to stop’ Ebola outbreak after massive public health cuts, experts say
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/may/21/ebola-outbreak-public-health?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other
INTRO: A previously undetected outbreak of Ebola is coursing through parts of central Africa, and the US appears to be doing little to help stop it, after massive cuts to global and domestic public health efforts.
There is no cure and no vaccine for the rare Bundibugyo variant of Ebola, which has caused two outbreaks in recent decades. Health leaders and scientists are now racing to understand where the virus is spreading and attempting to stop it – but the US is notably absent in these efforts.
In the past year, the US Agency for International Development (USAID) has been dismantled, thousands of staff at US health agencies were laid off, communications stalled and key scientific research canceled.
There are 482 suspected cases and about 116 deaths reported since April in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), with two cases and one death in Uganda and potential spread to neighboring South Sudan. The outbreak “might have been going on for a few months”, said Kristian Andersen, a professor of immunology and microbiology at Scripps Research.
The outbreak was immediately declared a public health emergency of international concern (PHEIC) by Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the director general of the World Health Organization (WHO), before even convening the committee that usually makes that determination. Officials say it may last for months.
“The DRC is one of the most vulnerable health systems in the world, and was the second-biggest recipient of USAID funding,” said Matthew Kavanagh, director of the Center for Global Health Policy and Politics at Georgetown University. The US withdrawal of funding with “zero notice” has been “disruptive to the country’s basic activities”, he said... (MORE - details)
RE: US is ‘simply choosing not to stop’ Ebola outbreak after massive public health cuts - Syne - May 22, 2026
Why is the US responsible for disease on a continent on the other side of the world?
Don't like the US withdrawing from such funding? Then help make sure that funding isn't used for transparently political or wasteful purposes.
I don't hear anyone who's whining about funding offering to do that.
RE: US is ‘simply choosing not to stop’ Ebola outbreak after massive public health cuts - confused2 - May 24, 2026
According to the OPEC annual statistical bulletin of 2022, the Congo exported $5,785 billion worth of petroleum in 2021.
RE: US is ‘simply choosing not to stop’ Ebola outbreak after massive public health cuts - Syne - May 24, 2026
(May 24, 2026 12:41 AM)confused2 Wrote: According to the OPEC annual statistical bulletin of 2022, the Congo exported $5,785 billion worth of petroleum in 2021.
That should be million, not billion. 1.03% of OPEC's revenue for 2021.