Only weeks after President Donald Trump forced the United States to exit the World Health Organization, experts say that millions of lives are already at risk, and WHO officials are now sounding the alarm about an “unknown” disease in central Africa that can kill within days. It’s spreading fast. At least 53 people are already dead, and most met their untimely fate after only 48 hours. The WHO said the “significant public health threat” is taking lives in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), a country facing one of the world’s worst humanitarian disasters due to decades of armed conflict. The disease first broke out in a village called Boloko, where three toddlers passed away after eating a bat carcass. Symptoms are similar to those of Ebola and Marburg—people vomit blood or have intense nose bleeds. Infected individuals also experience diarrhea, headaches, muscle aches, and fatigue. At least 431 cases have been reported since January, said the WHO, and it has a fatality rate of 12.3 percent. On Trump’s first day in office, he began withdrawing the U.S. from the World Health Organization. He demanded that staff members from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) cut off all communication with the WHO. He also began overhauling USAID, and thousands of staff members were furloughed, impacting countless global programs that combat disease and prevent it from spreading.
