Gabrielle Emanuel

That's the perspective of a World Health Organization official after the Global Measles and Rubella Laboratory Network, which detects and controls measles, lost its sole funder.

Five years after the World Health Organization declared a global pandemic, there has been progress — and backsliding in the way the world responds to infectious disease.

Are we more prepared to detect the start of a possible pandemic than we were in 2020? Some things have gotten better, and some worse.

Elon Musk said USAID's "Ebola prevention" was "accidentally canceled" but "immediately" restored. Health specialists following the current outbreak in Uganda raise doubts about the restoration.

Supported by USAID, the Ethiopian clinic provides lifesaving medicine for HIV-positive kids and teens to suppress the virus. First came the 90-day freeze — and now an immediate termination of support.

The case counts seem to be dropping. But health officials say that's because violence in the Democratic Republic of Congo makes it difficult to get good data. And now U.S. assistance is being disrupted.

With the U.S. withdrawing from the World Health Organization and rethinking foreign aid, China has an opportunity to play a bigger role — with different goals.

Mpox continues to impact parts of Africa. And experts say the outbreak stands at a critical moment as the U.S. halts foreign assistance and rebel violence scramble efforts to control the virus.

That's the way one scientist puts it — referring to how infected wild birds survive long enough to spread it to birds and mammals around the world. And that's a serious risk for human health.

The U.S. has funded support services on the ground during Uganda's Ebola outbreak, the DRC's mpox outbreak and in the humanitarian crisis in Ukraine. What happens now as foreign aid is being cut?