Ebola outbreak exposes global pandemic unpreparedness, says ex-CDC head

Tom Frieden, the former head of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and current CEO of Resolve to Save Lives, expressed concern that the ongoing Ebola outbreak reveals the world's inability to handle a 'stress test,' highlighting a lack of readiness for future pandemics. He emphasized that, although the outbreak does not significantly threaten many Americans, the global reaction has been insufficient, worsened by reductions in US public health funding. The Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention has identified 1,077 suspected cases of the rapidly spreading Bundibugyo strain. Coordination of relief efforts has been complicated by partial border closures among Congo, Uganda, and Rwanda. WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus is in Bunia, DR Congo, to help manage the response, while African officials report that just over half of the US$500 million required has been pledged.