Trump seeks more than $1.4B in Ebola funding from Congress
WASHINGTON – The White House is seeking more than $1.4 billion in new funds from Congress to address the widening Ebola virus outbreak, including $800 million for humanitarian crisis response, according to a Trump administration official.The move is part of a larger supplemental funding request made by the White House on Wednesday in a letter to Congress.It includes $800 million for a quarantine center in Kenya for Americans exposed to the virus, supplies, treatment, contact tracing, a regional logistics network and infection-control practices, the official said.US officials are also seeking $500 million in global health security funds they say are needed to prevent the virus from spreading to the United States.That funding would include disease surveillance, laboratory capacity, cross-border coordination and potential partnerships with multilateral organizations and the private sector, the official said.Another $90 million would go to diplomatic efforts, including evacuations and transportation of US citizens with the virus to treatment facilities, according to the official.Congressional aides said any such request could run into problems in Congress, where lawmakers, including some of President Donald Trump’s fellow Republicans, are unhappy that his administration has been refusing to spend money allocated for foreign assistance, including medical care, around the world.Washington has been criticized for its cuts to the US Agency for International Development and African public health efforts, prior to the outbreak, which have hurt the response.Follow The Post’s coverage on the latest Ebola outbreakCongo’s Ebola outbreak is linked to the rare Bundibugyo strain of the virus.
It has infected more than 1,000 people and killed 267 — generating the largest number of confirmed cases within the first month of any episode of the disease, the World Health Organization said this week.The two largest previous Ebola outbreaks occurred in West Africa — in...