Elon Musk 's claim that a government Ebola initiative was quickly restored after being accidentally canceled is being questioned by a former United States Agency for International Development (USAID) official. Newsweek has contacted X, via email, for comment on behalf of Musk. It has also contacted DOGE, via direct message on X.

Elon Musk claims he mistakenly fired Ebola prevention workers, then quickly fixed the error. But Ebola programs are still in tatters, along with other livesaving efforts like AIDS treatments for children.

The contracts financed Ebola screening at airports and protective gear for health workers, among other measures. Work had been held up for weeks, contrary to Elon Musk’s claim on Wednesday.

While Uganda has previously received global applause for quickly and swiftly handling lethal outbreaks, there are fears that the current outbreak of Sudan virus disease first announced in late January might plunge the country into a major crisis.

USAID’s initiatives to fight Ebola and other diseases have been gutted, current and former agency officials said.

Elon Musk said DOGE will make mistakes. He said an example is how the team briefly cut USAID funding for Ebola prevention.

Don Beyer of Virginia wasted no time taking aim at Musk for his chuckling comment about an often fatal virus that has devastating effects on the communities that experience an outbreak. “An average person who did something as incompetent as ‘accidentally cancelling Ebola prevention’ wouldn’t be applauded,