The Food and Agriculture Organization's, or FAO, Emergency Centre for Transboundary Animal Diseases,' or ECTAD, activities were scaled back in 2025 due to U.S. aid cuts, limiting preparedness initiatives and rapid response capacity to transboundary animal diseases.
Date: 3/25
Region: Global
Country: Global
Topic: Food & Farming, Health
Policy Lens: Global Health Security
Entry Type: Operational Impact
Additional Context: The U.S. was the largest contributor to FAO’s overall budget before the 2025 aid cuts. But in 2025, the agency received termination notices for more than 100 U.S. funded programs valued at approximately $382 million. The U.S. provided 86% of the funding for FAO’s ECTAD. Through its overall Global Health Security Program, FAO supported more than 180 outbreak investigations and responses in 22 countries and helped build the capacities of more than 160 laboratories. As of July 2026, FAO has around 30 programs focused on cross-border animal diseases.
Source: Devex