TRACKING EMERGING VIRUSES – October 2, 2025 – EBOLA
“Leading charities have warned that foreign aid cuts by Donald Trump in the US and nations like the UK will have “serious consequences” for the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) as it faces a deadly Ebola outbreak and raging conflict.
“What we feared has now happened: the WHO [World Health Organisation] has declared a new Ebola outbreak in the DRC just as the US government and other major donors are implementing drastic foreign aid cuts,” said Mercy Corps vice president of global policy and advocacy, Kate Phillips-Barrasso. Her organisation is providing health kits and supporting public information campaigns.
The DRC has learned from previous outbreaks and in many ways is now better equipped to respond, but experts warn cuts to global aid spending risk eroding this progress.
“Viruses do not respect political decisions or borders. Disengaging in global leadership and slashing funding to countries like the DRC will have serious consequences,” Ms Phillips Barrasso said.” (1)
“Health facilities in the epicentre of an Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo are overwhelmed and essential supplies are running out, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies said on Monday.
More resources are urgently needed to contain the outbreak, the IFRC said, as supplies of clean water and protective equipment near depletion.
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The IFRC is appealing for 20 million Swiss francs ($25 million) to help contain the outbreak in Bulape, in the centre of Congo. The outbreak, the country’s first in three years, was declared in early September.
Congo’s dense tropical forests are a natural reservoir for the Ebola virus, which causes fever, body aches and diarrhoea. It can linger in the body of survivors and resurface years later.
“Health facilities are overwhelmed, essential supplies are not available, and the area is without power,” Ariel Kestens, IFRC Head of Delegation in Kinshasa, said in a statement.
The World Health Organization said last week that 48 confirmed and probable cases of Ebola had been reported in Congo and that 31 people with the virus had died.” (2)
1.The nation where Trump’s aid cuts are colliding with a deadly Ebola outbreak: ‘What we feared has now happened’, by Rachel Schraer, https://www.independent.co.uk/news/health/trump-aid-cut-ebola-africa-b2831378.html
2.Urgent support needed to prevent Ebola spreading in Congo, says Red Cross federation, By Olivia Le Poidevin, https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/urgent-support-needed-prevent-ebola-spreading-congo-says-red-cross-federation-2025-09-22/
curated by Jonathan M. Metsch, Dr.P.H.
Clinical Professor of Environmental Medicine, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai