Support to the World Health Organization (WHO) for Response to the Ebola Virus Disease Outbreak in Western Africa

The Department of Health and Human Services Centers for Disease Control and Prevention funded support to the World Health Organization for response to the Ebola virus disease outbreak in Western Africa under Assistance Listing 93.818, with the most recent grant award on August 1, 2015, now 11 years in the past. This program is not currently active. The portfolio consists of two Cooperative Agreements totaling $57.7 million in federal dollars obligated, both awarded in August 2015 with completion dates in 2018 and 2019. No grant awards have been disbursed since 2015, and no open grant opportunities are currently available.

The program funded international capacity-building and response activities addressing the Ebola outbreak in West Africa and other highly infectious diseases. Specific activities included strengthening surveillance, epidemiological tracking, specimen and patient handling, laboratory testing, infection control, and public health infrastructure at the district level in affected countries. The cooperative agreements supported both emergency response to the active outbreak and longer-term international health security infrastructure, including compliance with the International Health Regulations.

Both awards were made to the World Health Organization under Cooperative Agreements. The awards were NU50GH001894 for $27.7 million (completion August 2019) and U50GH001894 for $30 million (completion July 2018). Recent grant opportunities posted between April 2015 and June 2018 were limited to the World Health Organization as the sole eligible applicant type. The most recent opportunity, CDC-RFA-CK15-15050401SUPP18, closed August 7, 2018, and served as a supplement to extend and add funds to the existing cooperative agreement specifically for Ebola response and international infectious disease infrastructure. Earlier continuation opportunities posted in 2017 and 2018 were restricted to previously awarded recipients.

This program should not be pursued. The outbreak-specific funding line ended in 2019, the funding agency has made no awards in over a decade, and the program does not accept applications from entities other than the World Health Organization.