EBOLA
Ebola is a highly infectious viral hemorrhagic disease that has broken out once more in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC, pop 102 million) where there have been 17 outbreaks since the 1970s.
“Ebola spreads via contact with bodily fluids. It can ravage organ systems and lead to a swift death.” The epicenter of the current outbreak is Mongbwalu, in the far northeastern corner of the DRC, a center of ethnic violence and gold mining, “an ideal launch pad for a virus”. There are vaccines for some forms of the Ebola virus, but not for the latest one which is called the Bundibugyo virus. The mortality rate for the latest variant of the virus can be as high as 50%. So far there have been 359 confirmed cases and 61 deaths.
The US response to the Ebola outbreak was expressed by Sec. of State Marco Rubio: the administration “cannot and will not allow any cases of Ebola to enter the United States.” To this end the US has been sending US citizens with exposure to Ebola to foreign countries for treatment and monitoring and has announced plans for a 50- bed quarantine unit in Kenya for Americans exposed in the future. Nothing has been said about increasing aid to the DRC to combat the virus. In fact, the New York Times reports that the US is “playing a sharply diminished role compared with its emergency response in the pre-Trump era.”
Sources: The New York Times ,6/5 and 6/7/26