Officials issue urgent warning as millions face resurgence of 'biblical' infections, parasites: 'These are the neglected diseases'

Public health experts have warned that treatable, neglected diseases nearly eradicated in Africa are resurging, The New York Times reported. 

What's happening?

Onchocerciasis, or "river blindness," is a "painful and debilitating" parasitic vector-borne disease transmitted by infected blackflies, according to the World Health Organization.

Dr. Vivien Sil Mabouang, Cameroon's head of health services, told the Times that public health officials were on the brink of eliminating river blindness locally.

But in early 2025, sudden, comprehensive, and devastating cuts to the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) abruptly halted the initiative's funding.

The Times reported that pharmaceutical companies provided medications free of charge, but longstanding American aid streams covered logistics such as shipping and the staffing needed to distribute treatments. 

Consequently, officials like Dr. Sil Mabouang were forced to triage aid and move forward with drastically reduced resources. 

As the Times observed, neglected diseases like river blindness are often called "biblical," having "plagued humans for so long that they are mentioned in ancient texts." Dr. Emilienne Epée, of the Ministry of Health in Cameroon, admitted that the unanticipated cuts made for hard choices.

"These are the neglected diseases. The government priority is to keep children from dying of malaria, and I understand that," Epée explained.

Why is this concerning?

The USAID cuts were truly chaotic, affecting programs in various underserved areas worldwide.

In the wake of the Agency's funding loss, millions of dollars in paid-for food aid and medical resources were slated to be incinerated rather than distributed despite Europe's efforts to intervene, and potentially life-saving research was stopped.

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At the time, public health experts around the world warned that the consequences would be horrific and fatal. 

In November, Harvard's T.H. Chan School of Public Health estimated that "hundreds of thousands of deaths from infectious diseases and malnutrition" had already resulted. As the Times's article illustrated, however, not all adverse impacts were fatal.

River blindness requires 10 to 15 years of treatment, per the Cleveland Clinic, and Dr. Sil Mabouang said officials would have to "restart at zero" should the aid pipeline be restored.

François Ewolo told the Times that he was at high risk of contracting onchocerciasis, and that his mother suffered with it before treatment was widely available.

"There was nothing to help her — we don't want to go back to that time," Ewolo lamented. Medical experts emphasized how close eradication was when USAID was hollowed out.

"A few [neglected] diseases are close to global elimination — one, achingly close," the Times said, citing a record low number of Guinea worm infections in 2025.

What's being done about it?

According to the outlet, there was a chance that some of the vast progress could be protected if USAID or similar funding resumed in 2026.

Dr. Bouba Bassirou managed Cameroon's onchocerciasis program, and he was resolute.

"Giving up is not an option, so we're finding a way," Bassirou vowed.

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