More than 500 people have died in the Democratic Republic of Congo as a result of the ongoing Ebola outbreak, as experts say cuts to international aid have hampered the country from containing the virus.
There have been 1,561 recorded cases of Ebola, including 506 deaths, since the disease’s outbreak was declared on May 15, according to DRC’s Ministry of Health. The World Health Organization deemed the first month of the Ebola outbreak the worst on record, and slowing the virus’s spread has been complicated by the lack of treatments for Bundibugyo, the strain behind the most recent Ebola outbreak.
The International Rescue Committee, a humanitarian aid organization, previously said severe cuts to global aid weakened frontline healthcare and preparedness systems, leaving the Congo with a more fragile health system now than during the 2018-2020 outbreak that killed more than 2,000 individuals.
“The warning signs are flashing red,” Bob Kitchen, vice president of emergencies at IRC, said in a statement. “Increased conflict and cuts to global aid funding have dismantled defenses at exactly the wrong moment. The lesson from every previous outbreak is clear: delays cost lives. The risks are growing and the resources are shrinking; that is the brutal arithmetic facing global aid today.”
In February 2025, the Trump administration’s Department of Government Efficiency, a special advisory group led by Elon Musk, helped effectively gut the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), the federal agency primarily responsible for disbursing foreign aid, eliminating about 83% of its programs.
DOGE officially ended on July 4, but its effects remain.
Total U.S. humanitarian funding was slashed from $14 billion in 2024 to $3.7 billion in 2025, according to Refugees International. Cuts to foreign aid in the last year are estimated to have resulted in more than 750,000 preventable deaths.
How USAID cuts exacerbated the Congo’s Ebola outbreak
USAID played a crucial role in preventing previous Ebola outbreaks. Phuong Pham, associate professor at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, said in an interview for the college that the U.S. was previously a global leader in addressing infection outbreaks including Ebola, with USAID as the operating arm for addressing public health crises.
In the past, the agency would have a permanent presence in countries like the Congo and would increase laboratory testing capacity for Ebola and train healthcare workers in the area to identify signs of the virus to collect samples. USAID would also liaise between local communities and other agencies like the WHO and UNICEF. During the 2018 outbreak, USAID helped vaccinate more than 300,000 for the disease, according to Pham.
Following the latest outbreak, the U.S. State Department said it would give $23 million in emergency aid to the Congo and Uganda to bolster Ebola containment and prevention efforts by working to create 50 clinics for Ebola screening, isolation and treatment.
Last month, the White House also requested more than $1.4 billion from Congress to address the Ebola outbreak, including $800 million in humanitarian response funds. Dedicated resources to address the spread of disease are crucial, Pham said, but they doesn’t replace the emergency response infrastructure USAID helped create.
“This support is much needed and may save lives,” she said. “That said, emergency response cannot fully substitute for the sustained investments that are needed before an outbreak begins.”
Craig Spencer, an emergency doctor and associate professor at the Brown University School of Public Health, said the impacts of USAID cuts as a result of DOGE are already being felt. In an New York Times op-ed, he noted samples of the virus delivered to a Kinshasa, Congo, lab were at the wrong temperature, part of the operations previously overseen by USAID.
“I’ve seen Ebola up close. I got it while treating patients in West Africa in 2014,” Spencer wrote. “I know how destructive the disease can be—and how unprepared we are for its return.”
The State Department did not immediately respond to Fortune‘s request for comment.
Musk’s reaction to DOGE’s role in the USAID aftermath
Musk, for his part, has denied DOGE having a negative role in enabling the spread of the virus. In February 2025, Musk admitted DOGE accidentally ended—and then quickly restored—funding for Ebola prevention, saying there was no interruption to programming.
Democratic Rep. Ro Khanna last month accused Musk and DOGE of killing millions of children as a result of cuts to USAID and other key agencies, a claim Musk disputed, endorsing several posts on X disputing Khanna’s claim.
“Exactly,” Musk wrote in response to one post. “And they cannot cite a single name of someone who died out of the ‘millions’ they falsely claim have died. Not a single name!”
The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is grappling with a severe Ebola outbreak that has resulted in over 500 deaths, with the Ministry of Health reporting 1,561 cases since the outbreak was declared on May 15. Experts attribute the failure to contain the virus, particularly the Bundibugyo strain, to significant cuts in international aid, which have weakened the country’s healthcare system.
The International Rescue Committee (IRC) has pointed out that funding reductions have dismantled frontline health responses, leaving the DRC in a more vulnerable state compared to previous outbreaks, such as the one from 2018 to 2020, which claimed over 2,000 lives. Bob Kitchen, the IRC’s vice president for emergencies, highlighted the urgent need for aid, stating that delays in response directly correlate to increased mortality rates. The cuts have created a dire situation where the risks of the outbreak are growing, but resources to combat it are dwindling.
The context for these aid reductions traces back to the Trump administration’s 2025 decision to significantly diminish the budget of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). The agency, which has historically played a vital role in managing infectious diseases like Ebola, lost about 83% of its programs, leading to a drastic drop in humanitarian funding from $14 billion in 2024 to $3.7 billion in 2025. This has had devastating implications, with estimates suggesting that over 750,000 preventable deaths have resulted from these cuts.
USAID’s previous initiatives included establishing permanent presences in countries facing health crises, enhancing laboratory testing capacities, and providing training for local healthcare workers to recognize and respond to Ebola. For instance, during the 2018 outbreak, USAID’s efforts helped vaccinate over 300,000 individuals. However, the current outbreak has seen a lack of such sustained infrastructure, which is essential for effective emergency responses.
In light of the ongoing crisis, the U.S. State Department announced a $23 million emergency aid package aimed at bolstering Ebola containment in the DRC and Uganda, which includes plans for establishing 50 clinics for screening and treatment. Additionally, the White House has requested over $1.4 billion from Congress for further Ebola response efforts. While these measures are critical, experts like Phuong Pham from Harvard note that they do not replace the longstanding investments that were previously made by USAID to prepare for outbreaks.
Craig Spencer, an emergency doctor with firsthand experience treating Ebola, has emphasized that the ramifications of USAID cuts are already visible. He cited issues such as improperly stored virus samples, which were once part of USAID’s oversight. Spencer’s personal experiences with Ebola highlight the urgency of addressing the outbreak effectively and the dire consequences of being unprepared.
In the political arena, Elon Musk, who played a role in the cuts through the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), has refuted claims that these reductions have contributed to the outbreak’s severity. In February 2025, he acknowledged that DOGE inadvertently disrupted funding for Ebola prevention but asserted that programming continued without interruption.
Democratic Representative Ro Khanna has criticized Musk and DOGE, alleging that the cuts have led to millions of child deaths, a claim Musk has contested, arguing that critics have failed to provide concrete evidence of such fatalities.
The DRC’s current Ebola crisis underscores the critical need for sustained international support and investment in healthcare infrastructure to effectively combat infectious diseases. As the outbreak continues to escalate, the importance of a coordinated and well-funded response becomes increasingly clear, reflecting the broader implications of global health preparedness and the consequences of funding cuts in times of crisis.
