Ebola Bundibugyo Strain Spreads Fast

A deadly, untreatable strain of Ebola is spreading fast through a conflict ridden region of Africa. The epidemic is spiraling out of control, exacerbated by severe foreign aid cuts, which have plunged the international system built to contain outbreaks into crisis.

Our chief Africa correspondent Jennifer Zabasajja joins us from London to discuss more. Jen, good morning. What has been the impact of this defunding? Really, Abir, if you take a look at what we've

seen over the past year or so, funding cuts have significantly weakened any sort of preparedness for an outbreak, but then also what we see, in terms of the response to an outbreak, which is essentially what is playing out, in Central Africa and The DRC at this point in

time. We should remember, that it wasn't just USAID that we saw cut and significantly scaled back, in 2025. There were also a number of other g seven countries, that cut back on their own foreign aid to prioritize

more of their domestic, priorities and spending priorities as far as defense goes, especially across Europe. But if we look at OECD figures, The US contributed the The US adjustments to foreign aid was actually was actually, excuse me, down just about 57%.

So what does that mean? Essentially, we've seen and what we've heard from, former USAID officials and also aid groups, is that that has significantly hampered what health officials on the ground have been able to do.

There's fewer people monitoring for these potential symptoms of an outbreak in in the beginning. There's also fewer resources on the ground as far as testing and contract tracing. And just to complicate matters further, it is a fragmented

system and a strained health system. And so, funding has been a significant contributor, to some of the strain that we are seeing right now, in the DRC. So, Jen, without the surveillance networks, is there a concern

that cases are being underreported? It's it's a major concern. And and, again, we've heard that reiterated by a number of officials. Even the WHO and Africa CDC say that it's likely

that this strain had been undetected for a number of months and weeks just because the testing capacity, the antibody treatments were not in place for this Bundabudjo strain. And so if you actually look at what we are seeing here, some one person was actually quoted as saying

they're playing catch up in the current situation. And so the concern though is it it's unclear just how far spread, this current strain is right now in this region. And, again, that is the concern, as far as, transmission

Yeah. And not being able to detect any future cases.