Consequences The United States quickly decreases foreign assist around the world, including in the Democratic Republic of Congo, where an unidentified disease with symptoms similar to Ebola has devastated several villages. This disease killed over 60 people and fell ill with over a thousand, and occurs at the same time as the explosion of Ebola in the neighboring Uganda, as well as increasing political violence under DRK.
Experts say that the so -called dismantling of the government of government efficiency Elon Musk by the US International Development Agency (USAID) hindered the reaction to this unidentified disease, delaying further research and stopping additional explosions of diseases.
“Medical staff along the border from Uganda – DRC was dissolved. Soldiers are everywhere. The laboratory built to cope with zoonoses with funding in the US is empty, “says Tim Allen, Professor London School of Economics and the expert for tropical Disease on Earth on the border of Uganda and DRK.
Nidhi Bouri, a former deputy assistant to the Global Health Administrator in USAID during the administration of Joe Biden, who previously managed readiness and response to illness, claims that the cuts of assist created a gap in response to earth. “We have no presence in the country,” he says. USAID previously provided key infrastructure and support for supervision and disease prevention; Bouri says he worked in a tandem with American Center for Disease Control and Prevention in the scope of complementary tasks. “After identifying the pathogen, USAID was able to historically identify the rapid ways of alleviating further spread.” Suddenly, looking for USAID, Donald Trump’s administration created a vacuum that other agencies will have difficulty filling.
The US Department of State did not answer the request for comment. “CDC strictly monitors the situation and is involved with DRK officials in what support can offer,” says the spokeswoman of the Center for Disease Control Melissa Dibble.
While the disease in DRK is still officially unidentified, there are some contradictory theories about its cause. World Health Organization Now he suspects That an unidentified disease can actually be a mass incident, not a virus, with contaminated water as a probable source. Or, if it is a virus, it may not be creative at all; Last year, the outbreak of an unknown disease was discovered in DRK In combination with malaria. Local health officials, including African experts of control and disease prevention centers, hypothesis that it could be like that again.
In 2024, the United States Congress appropriated $ 795 million for malaria control, most of which were to serve Sub -Saharan Africa, which found most of the global malaria infections. Nevertheless, Doge directed the quick disassembly of the expansive majority of this assist. “The detention of American programs that prevent and treat malaria, will lead to an explosion and exponential increase in the number of deaths,” said Martin Edlund, CEO of NON -Profit Malaria No More statement. “Up-to-date modeling It shows that the year of disturbance would lead to almost 15 million additional cases of malaria and 107,000 additional deaths. “