Did Trump's foreign aid cuts fuel the Ebola outbreak?

Short Wave

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🗓️ 24 June 2026

⏱️ 11 minutes

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Summary

The Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo is growing – and is likely larger than official numbers show. The deadly disease spreads through bodily fluids, on average killing half the people it infects. And while officially declared in May, the case numbers point to the virus circulating for months without being detected. To make matters worse, there’s not a vaccine for this specific species of ebolavirus – at least, not yet. NPR global health correspondent Jonathan Lambert has been covering everything Ebola-related for the past month or so, and shares what he’s learned today.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	You're listening to Shortwave from NPR.
0:05.8	Hey, shortwavers, Regina Barber here. And today I'm joined by NPR Global Health Reporter,
0:11.3	Jonathan Lambert. Hey, John. Hey, Gina. So you're here today to talk about the ongoing Ebola outbreak.
0:17.2	Yeah, it's been just about the only thing I've covered over the past month and a half or so. The outbreak has gotten really big, really fast. It's already the third largest Ebola outbreak on record.
0:27.7	That's terrible. So where did the number stand right now? As of now, there are over a thousand confirmed cases and over 250 confirmed deaths, but the toll is likely much higher.
0:39.5	Why is that?
0:40.9	Well, many cases and deaths are probably going uncounted. The outbreak is centered in a region of
0:46.2	the Democratic Republic of Congo that's really remote and battered by a lot of ongoing conflict.
0:51.4	I see how that could make responding to the outbreak a lot harder.
0:55.1	Yeah. And the virus got a head start. It was likely circulating for months before officials realized
1:00.7	that it was. That's made it harder to rein in, which is really worrisome for a disease that,
1:05.8	on average, kills about half the people it infects. So do scientists have a sense of how bad it could get?
1:12.9	Well, the CDC projects that in the absence of robust control measures, as many as 20,000 people
1:19.3	could be sick by August.
1:20.8	If it continues at that pace, it could rival the 2014-216 Ebola outbreak in West Africa,
1:26.7	which killed over 11,000 people.
1:29.2	And there are concerns that it could spread more widely in the region.
1:32.7	So today on the show, how this became one of the largest Ebola outbreaks in history.
1:37.4	And what has to happen to treat patients and get it under control?
1:41.4	You're listening to Sherwave, the science podcast from NPR.
1:50.4	Okay, so John, remind us of some of the basics of Ebola.
1:54.1	Yeah, it's a disease caused by a virus, specifically the ortho- Ebola virus.
	...

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