Follow the United States quickly slab Foreign aid are reverberating All over the world, also in the Democratic Republic of Congo, where a non -identified disease Several villages devastated with Ebola-like symptoms. This disease killed over 60 people and made more than a thousand ill, and at the same time it occurs with an Ebola outbreak in the neighbor Uganda and increases political violence within the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Experts say that Elon Musk’s so-called Department of Government Efficiency has hindered the response to this non-identified disease in the US Agency for International Development (USA), which has delayed further examinations and contamination efforts of additional outbreaks of illness.
“The medical staff along the border between Uganda and DRC was terminated. Soldiers are everywhere. The laboratory, which deals with zoonotic illnesses with US financing, is empty, ”says Tim Allen, Professor of Economics and Expert for Tropical Diseases, which are on site at the border of Uganda and the Democratic Republic and the Democratic Republic.
Nidhi Bouri, the former deputy deputy deputy administrator of global health at USAid during the Joe Biden administration, which previously directed the on-call and reaction efforts of the diseases, says that the auxiliary cuts have created a gap in the reaction on site. “We don’t have the presence in countries,” she says. USAID previously provided important infrastructure and support for the surveillance and prevention of diseases; Together with the US centers for the control and prevention of diseases, it has put together in complementary tasks, says Bouri. “As soon as a pathogen has been identified, USAID has been able to identify quick ways in the past to alleviate the further spread.” By abruptly reducing USAID, Donald Trump’s administration has created a vacuum that has difficulty filling other agencies.
The US State Department did not respond to inquiries about comments. “The CDC carefully monitors the situation and is committed to the support of the agency with DRC officials,” says Melissa Dibble, spokeswoman for the disease control.
While the disease in the DRC is not yet officially identified, there are some contradictory theories about their cause. The World Health Organization now suspected That the non -identified disease could actually be a mass poisoning incident than a virus, with contaminated water as a probable source. Or if it is a virus, it may not be new at all; Last year was found Combined with malaria. Local health officers, including experts from Africa centers for the control and prevention of diseases, hypothetize that this can be the case again.
In 2024 the United States Congress acquired 795 million US dollars for Malaria Control, most of which should serve Africa south of the Sahara, which contains most of the global malaria infections. Nevertheless, Doge directed the rapid dismantling of the vast majority of this help. “Stopping the US programs that prevent and treat malaria will lead to outbreaks and an exponential increase in death,” said Martin Edlund, CEO of the non -profit malaria no more, in a statement. “New Model shows that a year of disorders would lead to almost 15 million additional cases of malaria and 107,000 additional deaths. “
