Rubio criticizes WHO’s Ebola response as US continues deep cuts to public health | Marco Rubio

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Tuesday that the World Health Organization (WHO) was “a little late” in identifying the deadly Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Uganda.

On Tuesday, Rubio told reporters: “The culprit will obviously be the CDC. [Centers for Disease Control] and the World Health Organization, which was unfortunately slow to identify this thing.

His comments follow Donald Trump’s decision to withdraw the United States from the WHO, a move experts described as “sowing the seeds of the next pandemic.” Trump made the decision in one of his first acts after returning to power last year. The US departure also led to the loss of almost a quarter of the WHO workforce – around 2,000 jobs – out of a total workforce of around 9,400.

Rubio said the United States, which committed about $13 million in aid after sweeping aid cuts last year, hoped to open about 50 clinics to treat Ebola in the DRC.

“It’s a little difficult to get to because it’s in a rural area…and [a] Unfortunately, it’s a difficult place to reach in a war-torn country,” Rubio said. “We’re going to lean into this pretty heavy.”

The WHO said earlier on Tuesday it was concerned about the “scale and speed” of the Ebola epidemic which has killed around 131 people in the DRC.

Gigi Gronvall, an immunologist and professor at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, rejected Rubio’s criticism of the WHO.

“Blaming the WHO is misplaced, because it is operating with limited resources in a difficult context with many security challenges. But it is also little comfort to all the people who have contracted and died from Ebola. And it should also worry Americans. It is very concerning given that public health resources in the United States have been reduced and even a few cases in the United States would be difficult to manage with our current workforce,” Gronvall said.

She added: “It is a strategic mistake – and a national security vulnerability – that we are in a worse position today to deal with infectious disease threats than at the start of Covid-19. [and] Ebola is a terrible and serious disease, but it is not as communicable as other infectious diseases we might face. Instead of dismantling everything, we need to invest in the vaccines, diagnostic tests, and public health and hospital responses we need to protect Americans.

On Sunday, the WHO announced that the Ebola outbreak in the DRC and Uganda constituted a “public health emergency of international concern,” saying: “Neighboring countries sharing land borders with the Democratic Republic of the Congo are considered to be at high risk of spread due to population mobility, trade and travel links, and ongoing epidemiological uncertainty.

“This event requires international coordination and cooperation to understand the extent of the outbreak, coordinate surveillance, prevention and response efforts, scale up and strengthen operations and ensure the capacity to implement control measures,” WHO added.

The organization also noted that countries not bordering the DRC and Uganda should avoid closing their borders or restricting travel and trade in the event of an outbreak, arguing that such measures are driven more by fear than science. The restrictions may force people and goods through unmonitored crossings, potentially increasing the spread of disease, they said.

WHO officials have also warned that travel bans can harm local economies and disrupt emergency response efforts.

The Guardian has contacted the WHO for comment.

The WHO warnings come as U.S. health agencies continue to face mass layoffs during Trump’s second term. Earlier this week, the Department of Health and Human Services announced plans to cut dozens of positions at agencies including the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Institutes of Health, among others.

The reductions follow Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s announcement last year of plans to reduce the department’s 82,000-person workforce by 10,000 jobs.

The latest layoffs also come amid growing concerns about the U.S.’s preparedness for the next pandemic.

Although experts say the recent hantavirus outbreak is unlikely to trigger a global health crisis, it has underscored the erosion of public health infrastructure in the United States. Public health experts have also warned that deep political divisions and widespread misinformation could undermine Americans’ willingness to follow future health guidelines.

Echoing Gronvall, Jennifer Nuzzo, professor of epidemiology and director of the Pandemic Center at the Brown School of Public Health, said: “The CDC first learned of the outbreak when it was publicly confirmed, despite the fact that there had been rumors of an outbreak for weeks. This represents a notable change for the U.S. government, which has historically played a key role in responding to rumors of an outbreak in places like the DRC and, if rumors are confirmed, helping to stop the epidemic.

“It feels like the U.S. government is on the sidelines this time,” she added.

Melody Schreiber contributed reporting

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