Headline: New York Times, 10/6/2026
Heather Kerr opines:
This outbreak, caused by the Bundibugyo strain of Ebola, was detected late, giving the virus a head start. Unlike for the strain behind some previous outbreaks, there is no approved vaccine for Bundibugyo. It arrived at a particularly dangerous moment: Congo’s health systems are weakened by steep cuts in foreign aid and regional conflict that has displaced nearly seven million people countrywide.
Before 2025, U.S. government funding supported disease surveillance, outbreak preparedness and treatment programs run by humanitarian organizations across eastern Congo. That funding was sharply reduced as part of broader cuts last year. Budget reductions forced my organization, the International Rescue Committee, to cut funding to the health facilities focused on primary care in Ituri Province, where this outbreak began.
In clinics in Ituri, the funding cuts have meant going without the surveillance tools needed to flag Ebola symptoms early, allowing the virus to spread before we can catch up. It’s a stark change from the outbreak that started in 2018, the third-largest in history. At that time, donors called me asking, “How much money do you need? Write us a proposal.” That outbreak lasted for two years and produced less than half the caseload we’ve seen only five months into this one. [emphasis added]
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