Ebola responders say aid cuts under Trump left them unprepared for outbreak

Medical personnel in the Democratic Republic of Congo have experience responding to Ebola outbreaks, including 17 episodes over 50 years. The current outbreak is spreading rapidly, while frontline health agencies report dangerous under-resourcing after sweeping aid cuts by the United States and other Western nations and reductions affecting the World Health Organization. Health officials and aid groups say they lack staff, surveillance systems, and emergency supplies needed to detect early infections and contain the virus as cases rise. The outbreak is accelerating, with the WHO identifying nearly 600 suspected cases and reporting 139 deaths. No approved vaccines or therapeutics exist for the Bundibugyo strain driving this outbreak, leaving responders with limited tools. Previous outbreaks had more coordination centers, more personal protective equipment, and more isolation and triage centers.

"Medical personnel in the Democratic Republic of Congo know what it takes to get an Ebola outbreak under control. They have confronted 17 episodes of the disease in the past 50 years. But this time, they say, they just don't have the capacity. Sweeping aid cuts by the United States and other Western nations to Congo and the World Health Organization, which took effect last year, left frontline health agencies dangerously under-resourced as this Ebola outbreak erupted and spread with alarming speed."

"Aid groups and health officials say they lacked the staff, surveillance systems and emergency supplies needed to quickly detect early infections or contain the virus as cases surged in recent days. "Before, there were resources available, there were international organizations reaching out," said Manenji Mangundu, Oxfam's country director in Congo, who is based in Goma, the capital of North Kivu province. Near the border with Rwanda, it is a city of 2 million that is still controlled by the M-23 Rwandan-backed rebel group."

""Now, we are just not seeing the resources coming in as we would want," Mangundu said. "And we are watching cases rise. We are very, very worried." Congo is now scrambling to mount a response as the outbreak accelerates: By Wednesday, the WHO had identified nearly 600 suspected cases, nearly double the number from three days earlier, when WHO declared an international public health emergency, and 139 deaths, a jump of nearly 60 percent from the 88 deaths reported Sunday."

"The challenge is compounded by the fact that there are no approved vaccines or therapeutics for Bundibugyo, the strain driving the current Ebola outbreak, leaving overstretched responders with few tools to slow its advance. Mangundu said that at the same point during previous outbreaks, there were more coordination centers set up by the WHO, more personal protective equipment coming in, and more isolation and triage centers established."

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