HHS Deputy Secretary O'Neill Updates Ebola and Marburg Outbreak Responses in Africa
December 15, 2025 · U.S. Department of Health and Human Services · 0:02:22
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What happened
Jim O’Neill, Deputy Secretary of Health and Human Services and acting director of the CDC, updated the public on two viral hemorrhagic fever outbreaks in Africa. He said health officials in the Democratic Republic of the Congo noticed a cluster of unexplained deaths in Kasai Province in September, samples sent to Kinshasa quickly confirmed Ebola, and CDC epidemiologists mobilized to provide disease detection, laboratory testing, vaccination, infection control, logistics, and global health security support. He noted Ebola can have a case fatality rate of 90 percent.
O’Neill said he held a bilateral meeting with DRC Health Minister Roger Kamba to escalate coordination, that more than 100 CDC staff assisted the response, and that with U.S. help local officials identified cases, isolated patients, and prevented further spread. He said the health ministry had declared the end of the outbreak that week, and that CDC would continue supporting the DRC’s long-term preparedness and surveillance.
O’Neill also described the response to a Marburg outbreak, with CDC supporting laboratories, treatment centers, technical guidance, community engagement, and surveillance. He said he is elevating CDC’s response capabilities further and that under Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s leadership CDC will continue supporting partners worldwide while safeguarding Americans at home.
Why it matters
The update documents the CDC’s outbreak-response posture under its acting director: rapid overseas deployment credited with ending the Congo Ebola outbreak, presented as the model for protecting Americans from diseases that start abroad.
Sources: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, “Deputy Secretary O’Neill Gives Update on Viral Hemorrhagic Fever Outbreaks”, 2025-12-15 (official upload, embedded above; published 2025-12-15). Transcript via Supadata (private research store, paraphrased and attributed, not republished). All figures and characterizations as stated by the speakers.