A fast-moving Ebola outbreak in central Africa is exposing the fallout of sweeping U.S. public health cuts, with experts warning weakened surveillance and response systems may have allowed the virus to spread undetected for months. 

The WHO declared the Ebola outbreak in the DRC and Uganda a public health emergency of international concern. Former U.K. Africa minister Rory Stewart warns the crisis should be a "wake-up call," The Independent reports.

The WHO has declared an international public health emergency over an Ebola outbreak in the DRC that has killed more than 80 people and sickened over 300, with NPR reporting that the dismantling of USAID and a nearly 80% drop in U.S. humanitarian funding in the country may have delayed detection of the rare strain.

Writing ahead of the World Health Assembly for Foreign Policy, the CEO of Seed Global Health and Uganda's health minister argue that the dismantling of USAID and wider aid cuts have exposed the fragility of a global health model too reliant on foreign assistance.

A deadly Ebola outbreak caused by the Bundibugyo strain — for which no approved vaccines or treatments exist — has killed at least 87 people in Congo's Ituri Province and spread to Uganda. The Trump administration's cut to USAID activities has weakened the surveillance systems, laboratory networks, and frontline health worker training that detected and contained outbreaks before they spread globally, Forbes reports.

The State Department has issued guidance effectively ending CDC's direct role in implementing PEPFAR in most countries as of September 30, shifting responsibility to recipient governments — a move that experts warn will dismantle the infrastructure behind the program and strip the U.S. of the capacity to detect and respond to emerging disease threats.

The New York Times reports that the Trump administration's negotiations with Zambia have stalled after the U.S. tied a multibillion-dollar health aid package with access to the country's critical minerals. The standoff spotlights the administration's shift from development assistance to transactional agreements that condition lifesaving health funding on commercial concessions.

The Trump administration plans to redirect $2 billion in congressionally appropriated global health funding — earmarked for programs tackling malaria, tuberculosis, maternal and child health, HIV/AIDS, and more — to cover the legal costs, pending invoices, and logistics of shutting down USAID, CNN reports.

While the Trump administration's first official PEPFAR data release since 2024 shows HIV treatment numbers held relatively steady, Vox reports that independent analysis of unreleased quarterly data reveals deeper damage including 3.4 million fewer people tested, a 24% drop in frontline health workers, and a collapse of the prevention and outreach systems that kept the epidemic in check.

Despite cutting malaria deaths by 98% since 2011, Ghana faces a projected $1 billion funding gap through 2026 as cuts to U.S. foreign assistance reduce external support, with health officials warning that hard-won gains could unravel without sustained investment, DW reports.

After U.S. funding cuts gutted much of Zambia’s HIV prevention and community care system, clinics have lost the programs that once stopped infections before they spread, The New York Times reports.

PEPFAR's chief science officer resigned after publicly criticizing the Trump administration for using HIV aid as leverage over developing countries, Reuters reports.

According to NPR, the Trump administration's overhaul of U.S. foreign aid has disrupted HIV care delivery under PEPFAR — the program credited with saving 26 million lives since 2003 — leaving health workers uncertain about the program's future.

Despite steady overall treatment numbers, U.S. funding disruptions have sharply reduced HIV testing and prevention efforts under PEPFAR, raising concerns that undetected infections and future cases could surge, Reuters reports.

DW reports that the Trump administration is pressuring Zambia to sign a bilateral health deal that would tie continued HIV treatment funding — relied on by 1.3 million people — to demands for access to the country's critical mineral reserves.

Despite Congress appropriating nearly $6 billion for global HIV/AIDS work in 2026, NPR reports that the Trump administration's State Department is deliberately withholding funds from the CDC — threatening to shut down PEPFAR programs that serve more than 12 million people living with HIV across Africa and beyond, with one CDC official calling it "a controlled demolition."

The Trump administration is dismantling the decade-old Global Health Supply Chain Program — which delivered more than $5 billion in HIV and malaria supplies to 90 countries — and replacing it with a hastily planned new system, Reuters reports. The rushed transition has already triggered shortages of malaria drugs for children and gaps in HIV prevention.

Zimbabwe has become one of the first countries to roll out lenacapavir, a twice-yearly HIV prevention drug with near-total protection shown in clinical trials. But SBS News reports with community HIV response systems heavily dependent on foreign assistance now being cut, UNAIDS warns the funding gap could lead to 1.4 million new annual infections by 2030, casting doubt on whether scientific promise can translate into broad impact.

A new study published in PLOS Medicine finds that the loss of USAID support alone could generate approximately $7.5 billion in additional tuberculosis-related costs for households in low- and middle-income countries, with four million more families pushed into financial catastrophe.