NATO Leaders are gathering in Ankara this week to discuss the security challenges facing the world. While they meet, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Uganda are battling what has already become the third-largest Ebola outbreak ever recorded. The affected areas of the DRC face a profoundly unstable security situation, further complicating the response. This is more than just a humanitarian crisis - it is a stark reminder of the risks that fast-moving biological threats pose to regional stability and global security and resilience.

In May, an outbreak of the Ebola virus was officially declared in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo. Aid groups are warning that it could become the deadliest Ebola outbreak in history.

On this episode, Dan Richards spoke with two experts about why this outbreak is uniquely concerning, what the global health community needs to do to respond effectively, and how U.S. international aid policy under the Trump Administration has affected the trajectory of this public health crisis.

The United States knows how to defeat Ebola. A dozen years of bipartisan investment — spanning three administrations and billions of dollars — have built a formidable infrastructure of expertise, countermeasures, and rapid-response capability

Convening under the shadow of the Bundibugyo Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo was a real-time reminder of what’s at stake. The message from the outset was sobering. Without proper plans for prevention, countries continue a cycle of panic, scrambling for resources only after a crisis hits.

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Doctors treating Ebola patients in the Democratic Republic of Congo say the symptoms may be milder than in previous outbreaks of the disease

WASHINGTON – Today, U.S. Senator Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), Ranking Member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, highlighted the disastrous impact that the Trump Administration’s dismantling of USAID programs has had on the fight against Ebola.

Not long after Dr. Craig Spencer called a hotline from his New York City apartment to report that he had Ebola symptoms, an ambulance arrived outside his building full of health workers wearing full biohazard suits.

Spencer, 33 at the time, lived on the fifth floor and was recently back from treating Ebola patients in the West African nation of Guinea. For some reason, he wasn’t able to buzz in the responders, but his situation was considered so urgent that the team immediately removed the building's front door and came upstairs.

Infectious disease experts say measles — not Ebola or hantavirus — is the biggest infectious threat to the mega-events that will be held in the Unites States this summer.

Ahead of the World Cup and America's 250th anniversary celebrations, experts warned that the highly contagious measles virus could spread during massive international gatherings in jam-packed stadiums, crowded transit hubs and fan fests.

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In an extraordinary public display of administration infighting, Secretary of State Marco Rubio told the Senate foreign relations committee on June 2 that he was wresting back control of U.S. contributions to an international vaccine consortium — Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance — from Health and Human Services Secretary Robert Kennedy Jr. and his anti-vaxxer entourage. It was time, Rubio announced brusquely, to “re-engage” with Gavi, which was established in 2000 and takes the lead in vaccinating roughly 60 percent of the world’s children.

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The Trump administration has imposed some very tough measures in response to the hantavirus and Ebola outbreaks, despite the president's past history of criticizing COVID-19 restrictions during the pandemic.

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Jennifer Nuzzo and Craig Spencer are both quoted in this article:

WASHINGTON (AP) — While millions of soccer fans cheer or groan over World Cup matches spanning North America, health officials will be on high alert for germs.

A heat wave may be the most obvious health threat. But infectious diseases can spread in a crowd, and experts are set to scrutinize wastewater, hospital visits, even social media for any signs that an outbreak might be brewing.

Measles, one of the most contagious diseases, is among the top concerns, sparking a warning this week from the Pan American Health Organization, PAHO. With a nearly six-week stretch of packed stadiums, bars and tourist sites in 16 cities, officials are on the lookout for a long list of infections, from the stomach bug norovirus to mosquito-borne dengue fever.