ADDIS-ABABA, The White House has asked Congress to approve more than $1.4 billion in emergency funding to support efforts to contain the growing Ebola outbreak, with $800 million of the request set aside for humanitarian response.
According to a Trump administration official, the funding proposal includes money for a quarantine facility in Kenya for Americans exposed to the virus, as well as treatment, medical supplies, contact tracing, infection control and a regional logistics network. The request is part of a broader supplemental funding package sent to Congress on Wednesday.
The proposal could face resistance from lawmakers, including some Republicans, who have criticised the administration for withholding previously approved foreign aid, including funding for healthcare programmes overseas. The administration has also come under scrutiny over cuts to the U.S. Agency for International Development and public health support in Africa before the outbreak.
The current outbreak, centred in the Democratic Republic of Congo, is linked to the rare Bundibugyo strain of Ebola. More than 1,000 people have been infected and 267 have died, with the World Health Organization saying that the outbreak recorded the highest number of confirmed cases within the first month of any Ebola outbreak this week.
Health policy analyst Josh Michaud of KFF said the funding request is broadly in line with what may be needed, noting that the United States spent about $266 million during Congo’s 2018 to 2020 Ebola outbreak.
The U.S. has already committed hundreds of millions of dollars to the response. Last week, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced $107 million in emergency funding and warned the outbreak could become the worst on record. The country has also expanded access to an experimental antibody treatment for use in clinical trials.
Meanwhile, France confirmed its first Ebola case linked to the outbreak after a doctor returned from a humanitarian mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
