How vaccines and the new coronavirus backlash are impacting Ebola hemorrhagic fever countermeasures

In 2020, the National Institutes of Health funded a network of 10 centers aimed at “expanding knowledge about re-emerging and emerging infectious diseases.” But in recent months, these research centers were in no position to provide assistance when the dangerous Ebola and hantaviruses spread and caused outbreaks. In 2025, grants to the center were terminated by the Trump administration as part of cuts aimed at projects related to COVID-19 and pandemic preparedness.

The agency told grant recipients in May 2025 that the network “is not considered safe for Americans and is not an effective use of taxpayer funds.” Of the $82 million allocated to the program over five years, $14.9 million remained unspent, according to data collected by Grant Witness.

Although these centers were not on the front lines of outbreak response like the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention or USAID, some researchers in the network said the NIH cuts weakened relationships they had cultivated over years with experts in other countries in hopes of streamlining outbreak response and development of diagnostics and treatments.

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