Secretary of State Marco Rubio spoke with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen regarding efforts to mitigate and contain the Ebola outbreak.
“Secretary of State Marco Rubio spoke with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen to discuss U.S. and European coordination and response efforts to the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Uganda,” State Department spokesperson Thomas Pigott said in a statement. “The Department’s highest priority and focus remain protecting the health of the American people and preventing this Ebola outbreak from reaching our shores.”
Rubio previously told reporters, “We cannot and will not allow any cases of Ebola to enter the United States.”
“We’ve searched assistance to make sure that that is being contained there and obviously, multiple agencies involved here are also very involved in tracking people just to make sure that nobody comes into this country that has Ebola and creates a problem for us,” Rubio added, discussing the outbreak
On June 5, the State Department announced an additional $38 million in funding for an Ebola response. The Department’s funding follows a previous $350 million for an Ebola response and other humanitarian assistance in the DRC, South Sudan, and Uganda.
Last month, the State Department shut down several embassies, while the CDC paused people in the affected countries from entering the United States.
“Effective May 18, 2026, the U.S. Embassies in Juba, South Sudan; Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo; and Kampala, Uganda have temporarily paused all visa services,” the State Department said. “This pause includes applications for immigrant visas as well as nonimmigrant visas for tourists, business travelers, students, exchange visitors, and all other nonimmigrant categories. Affected visa applicants have been notified. We will update our website when appointment scheduling resumes and inform applicants whose appointments were rescheduled.”
