[Comment] The US Ebola response and the future of global health leadership

The US Ebola response and the future of global health leadership Affiliations & Notes aDepartment of Medicine, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX, 75390, United States of America bPeter O’Donnell Jr. School of Public Health, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX, United States of America cDepartment of Health Services, Policy, and Practice, Brown University School of Public Health, Providence, RI, United States of America dDepartment of Emergency Medicine, Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University, Providence, RI, United States of America eDepartment of Epidemiology, Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, United States of America fDepartment of Chronic Disease Epidemiology, Yale School of Public Health, New Haven, CT, United States of America Article Info Publication History: Published June 29, 2026 DOI: 10.1016/S0140-6736(26)01291-2 External LinkAlso available on ScienceDirect External Link Copyright: © 2026 Elsevier Ltd. All rights are reserved, including those for text and data mining, AI training, and similar technologies. Linked Articles The worsening outbreak of Ebola virus disease caused by Bundibugyo virus (Orthoebolavirus bundibugyoense; BDBV) in DR Congo and Uganda,1–3 declared a Public Health Emergency of International Concern by WHO on May 17, 2026,4 underscores the continuing threat posed by emerging infectious diseases in an increasingly interconnected world. The outbreak has expanded rapidly, with transmission across borders and into displacement camps in eastern DR Congo, where conflict, population movement, overcrowding, and limited access to health services have complicated response efforts.5 References 1. Government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo DR Congo: Ministry of Public Health, Hygiene and Social Welfare, official declaration Ebola outbreak, 15 May 2026 Government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, May 15, 2026 2. WHO Disease outbreak news: Ebola disease caused by Bundibugyo virus, Democratic Republic of the Congo & Uganda https://www.who.int/emergencies/disease-outbreak-news/item/2026-DON608 Date: June 19, 2026 Date accessed: June 24, 2026 3. WHO Ebola disease caused by Bundibugyo virus, Democratic Republic of the Congo & Uganda https://www.who.int/emergencies/disease-outbreak-news/item/2026-DON602 Date: May 16, 2026 Date accessed: June 24, 2026 4. WHO Epidemic of Ebola disease caused by Bundibugyo virus in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Uganda determined a public health emergency of international concern https://www.who.int/news/item/17-05-2026-epidemic-of-ebola-disease-in-the-democratic-republic-of-the-congo-and-uganda-determined-a-public-health-emergency-of-international-concern Date: May 17, 2026 Date accessed: June 13, 2026 5. Farge, AKA Ebola outbreak spreads to crowded displacement camp in Congo Reuters, June 12, 2026 6. US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention History of Ebola outbreaks. Ebola 7. US Department of State Joint statement by Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy, Jr 8. Kuppalli, K If Americans risk their lives fighting Ebola overseas, they deserve the right to come home STAT, June 5, 2026 https://www.statnews.com/2026/06/05/americans-ebola-kenya-protests/ Date accessed: June 13, 2026 9. US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Information for travelers returning from Ebola-affected areas. Ebola https://www.cdc.gov/ebola/situation-summary/returning-travelers.html Date: 2026 Date accessed: June 13, 2026 10. Kuppalli, K ∙ Houry, D ∙ Schuchat, A ∙ et al. Open Letter to Congress regarding Treatment of Americans with Ebola in Kenya or Europe. Infectious Diseases Society of America https://www.idsociety.org/globalassets/idsa/policy–advocacy/advocacy-uploads/open-letter-to-congress-regarding-ebola-treatment-facilities—signatures.pdf Date: June 8, 2026 Date accessed: June 13, 2026 11. US Department of State Additional consular information for Americans regarding the Ebola outbreak https://travel.state.gov/en/international-travel/travel-advisories/global-events/ebola_additional_information.html Date: June 24, 2026 Date accessed: June 24, 2026 12. Tappero, JW ∙ Cassell, CH ∙ Bunnell, RE ∙ et al. US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and its partners' contributions to global health security Emerg Infect Dis. 2017; 23:S5-S14 13. Jones, DS ∙ Dicker, RC ∙ Fontaine, RE ∙ et al. Building global epidemiology and response capacity with Field Epidemiology Training Programs Emerg Infect Dis. 2017; 23:S158-S165 14. US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Tanzania's heroic response to Marburg virus outbreak Global Health Protection, 2024 15. Tezuka, T ∙ Ito, N ∙ Takahashi, K The impact of U.S. foreign aid reduction on global health Trop Med Health. 2026; 54:33 16. Johnson, CY ∙ Harduar Morano, L ∙ Gartner, DR ∙ et al. Changes at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and CDC's ability to protect the nation's health. State of the CDC Workforce Study Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Michigan State University, May 26, 2026 https://epibio.msu.edu/research/cdc-workforce/ Date accessed: May 26, 2026 17. Kent, L ∙ Hansler, J US funding cuts have hampered response to the deadly Ebola crisis, aid workers say CNN, May 22, 2026 https://www.cnn.com/2026/05/22/africa/ebola-us-aid-cuts-drc-uganda-intl Date accessed: June 24, 2026 18. Savage R and Agencies Kenyan minister orders halt to construction of US Ebola facility The Guardian, June 23, 2026 https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/jun/23/kenya-minister-orders-halt-us-ebola-facility Date accessed: June 24, 2026 19. US Department of State The U.S. Government response to the Ebola outbreak. 2014 Deputy Secretary of State for Management and Resources remarks https://2009-2017.state.gov/s/dmr/remarks/2014/233996.htm Date: Nov 12, 2014 Date accessed: June 13, 2026 20. National Special Pathogen System (NSPS) About the NSPS 21. Ministère de la Santé, des Familles, de l'Autonomie et des Personnes handicapées Ebola: identification d'un 1er cas chez un médecin humanitaire de retour de mission en République démocratique du Congo (RDC) https://sante.gouv.fr/actualites-presse/presse/communiques-de-presse/article/ebola-identification-d-un-1er-cas-chez-un-medecin-humanitaire-de-retour-de Date: June 24, 2026 Date accessed: June 24, 2026 22. WHO Statement on travel and transport in relation to Ebola virus disease (EVD) outbreak https://www.afro.who.int/media-centre/statements-commentaries/statement-travel-and-transport-relation-ebola-virus-disease Date: 2014 Date accessed: June 24, 2026 23. WHO African CDC and WHO launch joint continental plan to scale up mpox outbreak response https://www.afro.who.int/news/african-cdc-and-who-launch-joint-continental-plan-scale-mpox-outbreak-response Date: Sept 6, 2024 Date accessed: June 24, 2026 24. National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine Integrating clinical research into epidemic response: the Ebola experience The National Academies Press, Washington, DC, 2017 25. Selvey, LA ∙ Antão, C ∙ Hall, R Entry screening for infectious diseases in humans Emerg Infect Dis. 2015; 21:197-201 26. Poletto, C ∙ Gomes, MF ∙ Pastore y Piontti, A ∙ et al. 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