Trump’s dismantling of USAID raises risk of mpox global emergency, experts warn
February 20, 2025
The dismantling of USAID by the Trump administration and the suspension of U.S. global health aid is escalating the risk of mpox becoming a wider global emergency. With USAID’s departure from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and the freezing of $55 million in emergency funds, critical efforts in vaccination, testing, and surveillance have been halted. Health experts warn that this abrupt withdrawal leaves vulnerable regions without resources, undermines containment efforts, and heightens the risk of global spread. The loss of U.S. leadership in disease control, combined with severed ties to WHO, jeopardizes global health security.
The Trump administration’s dismantling of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and the freezing of nearly all humanitarian aid has created a dangerous vacuum in global health efforts, particularly in the fight against mpox in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). With USAID workers evacuated, millions of dollars in funding frozen, and vaccination and surveillance programs abruptly halted, the risk of mpox spiraling into a broader global emergency has significantly increased.
USAID had been central to controlling the outbreak, providing $55 million in emergency assistance for vaccines, diagnostic testing, and health worker training. But the funding freeze has left treatment centers abandoned, critical supplies stranded, and patients without care. More than 140 mpox patients in the DRC were left to flee into communities when treatment centers were looted amid rebel violence, heightening the risk of further transmission.
Health experts stress the long-term consequences of this abrupt withdrawal. “It’s not just about people overseas who will be affected,” said one U.S.-based researcher. “There’s a likelihood of mpox or the next pandemic spreading to the United States.”
The halt on USAID operations also disrupts future preparedness. USAID was building sustainable health systems in the DRC to manage not only mpox but future outbreaks, including Ebola and Marburg. Now, experts warn the region is ill-equipped to respond to the next crisis.
The broader impact of U.S. disengagement from global health governance is amplified by the administration’s withdrawal from the World Health Organization (WHO), cutting off the U.S. from international disease surveillance networks. As Stephen Morse, an epidemiologist at Columbia University, warned, “If we blindfold ourselves and tie our hands, we’re not going to make ourselves safer. We will just be less aware of what’s killing us or what’s making us sick.”