Experts say USAID shutdown made virus harder to contain

An outbreak of the deadly Ebola virus in central Africa has been exacerbated by cuts to foreign support from the United States and the West, experts say, a year after Washington slashed its international aid operations.

In May, authorities 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. Transmitted through contact with infected body fluids, wild animals, and contaminated objects or meat, Ebola is a rare but serious disease that has a mortality rate of around 50%.

The current outbreak is the 17th in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. With more than 1,400 confirmed cases to date, it is the third largest outbreak on record, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Currently, no known cases have been reported in the U.S., but one case has been confirmed in France. The latest data from the CDC shows that there have been 440 confirmed deaths 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 the current outbreak could become the deadliest on record without urgent intervention.

“The warning signs are flashing red,” Bob Kitchen, vice president of emergencies at the IRC, said in a statement, before noting that the DRC faces the current outbreak “more fragile and less prepared” than during the 2018-2020 outbreak that killed more than 2,000 people.

“Increased conflict and cuts to global aid funding have dismantled defenses at exactly the wrong time,” Kitchen said. “Risks are increasing and resources are decreasing – that is the brutal arithmetic that global aid faces today.”

The U.S. Agency for International Development officially closed last July, with most of its programs abolished and a small remainder absorbed into the U.S. State Department. The move drew criticism from former presidents Barack Obama and George W. Bush, as well as billionaire philanthropist Bill Gates.

USAID's demise came as part of cuts enacted by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), a temporary organization created by President Donald Trump shortly after his return to the White House. Trillionaire businessman Elon Musk initially oversaw DOGE operations and recently defended decisions to cut USAID after claims it had contributed to child deaths.

DOGE officially closed on July 4, 2026.

However, recent cuts to foreign aid programs are not unique to the United States. Last year, the charity Oxfam said G7 countries, which together account for around 75% of all official development assistance, needed to cut their aid spending by 28% in 2026 compared to 2024 levels.

According to a recently published analysis by researchers at the Barcelona Institute for Global Health, French foreign aid is on track to have fallen by around a third from 2023. Germany's will fall by more than 36%, while that of the United Kingdom will decline by 45% compared to recent peak levels.

Virologist Angela Rasmussen is the scientific chair of the activist group Save America Movement, a nonpartisan organization whose goal is to defend “American values,” including the constitution, public health, the economy, and the United States' position as a world leader.

He told CNBC in an email that foreign aid cuts have “demonstrably worsened” the Ebola crisis in central Africa. Cuts to critical infrastructure previously funded by USAID have led to increased violence and decreased capacity in the region where the outbreak occurs, he explained.

In early 2025, fighting broke out between Congolese authorities and groups led by the rebel paramilitary group M23. It culminated in the capture of Goma, a key city on the border with Rwanda, which in turn worsened political violence across the country. Groups affiliated with the Islamic State have also carried out attacks in eastern DRC, and missile attacks and fighting between M23, Rwandan troops, Congolese forces and other militia groups remain common in the region, according to the Council on Foreign Relations.

The CfR says the situation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo is one of the world's largest and deadliest humanitarian crises, with one million Congolese seeking refuge abroad and 21 million still in the country needing urgent help, including medical assistance and supplies.

“The ongoing civil war and lack of well-developed transportation networks have resulted in limited mobility and these funding cuts have severely undermined confidence in humanitarian and medical aid workers, making it difficult and, in some cases, dangerous to trace contacts or treat Ebola patients,” Rasmussen told CNBC.

“Ships cannot pass through and existing USAID-funded medical supplies (basic supplies such as gloves, PPE, and body bags) are not reaching the most affected areas of Ituri province.”

Rasmussen added that the loss of USAID-funded cold chain infrastructure meant that swab samples degraded during transport to biomedical testing facilities, contributing to delays in detecting the virus.

“Confirmation of cases is still long delayed because the loss of USAID funding has depleted the health system of supplies, equipment, facilities and personnel to operate them,” he said.

Jade Le, an infectious disease specialist and head of Infectious Diseases at Access TeleCare, also told CNBC that foreign aid cuts had “absolutely” made the Ebola outbreak more difficult to contain. He said USAID has traditionally been heavily involved in building health care infrastructure in countries like the Democratic Republic of the Congo, from training health workers to recognize signs and symptoms of diseases like Ebola, to providing testing kits and personal protective equipment, and helping with transporting samples to laboratories equipped to test and identify the Ebola virus.

“With the dismantling of USAID, funding cuts and withdrawal from the WHO, staff reductions at the CDC, and reduced health aid to the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Trump administration has certainly contributed to the delay 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 foreign aid cuts.

“The United States used to be involved early in outbreaks like this, with Epidemic Intelligence Service officials sent to investigate outbreaks before they spread rapidly, to quickly identify the cause, isolate patients properly, and conduct contact tracing to ensure outbreaks are controlled,” Le said.

“This time, unfortunately US medical and public health experts were mobilized much later than in previous outbreaks and the release of US funds to help control this outbreak will be less effective than if there had been sustained USAID programming.”