How Trump’s America First policy hit the Ebola response in Congo
In May, US doctor Patrick LaRochelle discovered he had been exposed to Ebola in a mining town in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Unlike a previous experience in 2018, three state-of-the-art US biocontainment centers were willing to treat him and his colleague Peter Stafford. However, the White House intervened and instructed that none of the US citizens exposed to the deadly virus would be treated in the US.
This decision marked a shift in the US Ebola response, focusing more on border controls than fighting the disease, according to over 50 people involved in the outbreak. President Donald Trump's administration established a 50-bed Ebola quarantine camp for US citizens on an Air Force base in Kenya and implemented a "do-not-board" order, preventing citizens from taking US-bound flights if they had been in Congo within 21 days.
This America First closed-borders policy has significantly slowed the flow of American medical volunteers, straining local doctors and weakening the overall response. The outbreak has been the fastest-spreading ever and has claimed over 4,000 lives. The US withdrawal from the World Health Organization (WHO) and the US Agency for International Development (USAID) has left a gap in the supply chain for medicines and equipment, disrupting medical work in a country nearly six times the size of California.
LaRochelle was sent to Prague for isolation, while Stafford was sent to Germany for treatment and recovered. Both doctors expressed gratitude for the US government's help but regretted not being flown home. The decision-making process seemed driven by fear and optics rather than a comprehensive understanding of medical risk. Traditionally, the US played a crucial leadership role during Ebola epidemics, but under Trump's administration, Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has shown little interest in accelerating vaccine development and has deployed minimal resources.
This characterization of the US Ebola response overlooks the extensive work of the Health Department and CDC both domestically and in Africa.
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