Experts say USAID closure has made it difficult to control the virus

A year after Washington scaled back its international aid missions, the outbreak of the deadly Ebola virus in Central Africa has surged due to cuts in US and Western foreign support, experts say.

In May, officials in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Uganda declared outbreaks after laboratory tests detected the spread of the Bundibugyo virus, which causes a type of Ebola disease. Spread through contact with infected bodily fluids, wild animals, and contaminated objects or meat, Ebola is a rare but serious disease with a mortality rate of about 50%.

The current outbreak is the 17th that the DRC has suffered. With more than 1,400 cases confirmed so far, it is the third-largest outbreak on record, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Currently, there are no known cases in the US, but one case has been confirmed in France. The latest data from the CDC shows 440 deaths have been confirmed from the virus.

Near the beginning of the outbreak, the International Rescue Committee – a global non-governmental organization focused on humanitarian aid, relief and development – ​​warned that without immediate intervention the current outbreak could become the deadliest on record.

“Warning signs are showing red,” Bob Kitchen, the IRC’s vice president for emergencies, said in a statement, before adding that the DRC is facing the current outbreak “more delicately and less prepared” than the 2018-2020 outbreak, which killed more than 2,000 people.

“Expanding conflict and cuts to global aid funding have eroded security at exactly the wrong time,” Kitchen said. “Risks are increasing and resources are decreasing; this is the cruel arithmetic facing global aid today.”

US Agency for International Development officially Closed Last July, most of its programs were eliminated and a small remainder was absorbed into the US State Department. This move attracted Criticism From former presidents Barack Obama and George W. Bush, as well as billionaire philanthropist Bill Gates.

USAID’s closure came as part of cutbacks implemented by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), a temporary organization established by President Donald Trump shortly after his return to the White House. Billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk in the beginning inspected DOGE operations, and recent defended Decision on reduction in USAID following Claim That it had contributed to the children’s deaths.

DOGE officially shuts down on July 4, 2026.

However, recent cuts to foreign aid programs are not exclusive to the US. Last year, the charity Oxfam noted that G7 countries, which collectively account for about 75% of all official development assistance, were set to cut their aid spending by 28% in 2026 compared to 2024 levels.

French foreign aid is set to fall by almost a third from 2023 onwards, according to a recently published analysis by researchers at the Barcelona Institute for Global Health. Aid to Germany would fall by more than 36%, while that to the UK would fall by 45% compared to recent peak levels.

Virologist Angela Rasmussen is the science chair of the activist group Save America Movement – ​​a non-partisan organization whose mission is to defend “American values,” including the Constitution, public health, the economy, and the United States’ position as a global leader.

He told CNBC in an email that foreign aid cuts have “markedly worsened” the Ebola crisis in Central Africa. He noted that cuts to critical infrastructure previously funded by USAID have led to increased violence and reduced capacity in the region where the outbreak is occurring.

In early 2025, fighting broke out between Congolese authorities and groups led by the rebel paramilitary group M23. This culminated in the capture of Goma, a major city on the Rwandan border, resulting in nationwide political violence. Islamic State-linked groups have also launched attacks in eastern DRC, with missile attacks and fighting between M23, Rwandan troops, the Congolese army and other militia groups common in the region. According For the Council on Foreign Relations.

CFR says the situation in the DRC is one of the world’s largest and deadliest humanitarian crises, with 1 million Congolese people seeking refuge abroad and 21 million people still in the country in need of immediate assistance, including medical aid and supplies.

“The ongoing civil war and lack of well-developed transportation networks have limited mobility, and these funding cuts have severely diminished trust for humanitarian and medical aid workers, making it difficult and, in some cases, dangerous, to conduct contact tracing or treat Ebola patients,” Rasmussen told CNBC.

“Shipments are not arriving and existing medical supplies (fundamental supplies such as gloves, PPE, and body bags) funded by USAID are not reaching the most affected areas of Ituri Province.”

Rasmussen said the loss of USAID-funded cold chain infrastructure meant that swab samples were spoiled during transport to biomedical testing facilities, leading to delays in detecting the virus.

“Confirming cases is still critically slow because the loss of USAID funds has left health systems depleted of supplies, equipment, facilities and the staff to operate them,” he said.

Jade Le, an infectious disease expert and head of infectious diseases at Access Telecare, also told CNBC that cuts in foreign aid have “absolutely” made containing the Ebola outbreak harder. He said USAID has traditionally been involved in building health care infrastructure in countries like the DRC, including training health workers to recognize the signs and symptoms of diseases like Ebola, providing testing kits and personal protective equipment, and assisting in the transport of samples to laboratories equipped to test and identify the Ebola virus.

“With the dismantling of USAID, funding cuts and withdrawal from WHO, workforce reductions at CDC, and reductions in health assistance to the DRC, the Trump Administration has certainly contributed to delays in detection and lack of control of this current outbreak,” he said in an email.

CNBC contacted the US government for comment on the impact of the foreign aid cuts.

“The United States used to be involved early in such outbreaks, sending Epidemic Intelligence Service officers to investigate outbreaks before they spread rapidly, to quickly identify the cause, appropriately isolate patients, and conduct contact tracing to ensure control of the outbreak,” Le said.

“This time, U.S. public health and medical experts were unfortunately mobilized too late compared to previous outbreaks and releasing U.S. funding to assist in the control of this outbreak will be less effective than USAID programming.”