The Real Sickness Behind Ebola : The political disease can be detected in Zaire--in the heart of the Mobutu government

Blood, body wastes and political corruption spread the deadly Ebola virus in Zaire. This African country is a failed state, not because of natural disasters but because President Sese Seko Mobutu has plundered a national wealth stemming from offshore oil and other minerals. He has stashed away millions in foreign banks.

Despite a substantial manufacturing base, real wages in Zaire have declined steadily since independence more than 30 years ago. Blame the corruption, which drives away foreign investment and inflates the cost of doing business. Blame Cold War politics, too. Mobutu and others capitalized on U.S.-Soviet rivalries and grew fat off all who would pay up. Washington ended its aid to Mobutu in 1992, allowing only a trickle of emergency relief for his countrymen, but corruption continues, destroying jobs and impoverishing countless Zairians.

The desperate poverty makes the country ripe for public health emergencies. Clean running water is scarce. Medication and basic supplies like gloves and needles required for good sanitation are generally in short supply at hospitals. These conditions provide fertile breeding grounds for illnesses like the Ebola virus and AIDS.

The paying of bribes has allowed some people exposed to the Ebola virus to cross roadblocks and escape the quarantine. Their travel threatens the capital, Kinshasa--and perhaps the world.

The United States Agency for International Development has sent two teams from the Centers for Disease Control, and other international health organizations too have responded with compassion. The wealthier nations should also nurture Zaire’s long-term development via humanitarian channels. Reducing infant mortality remains a priority because 50% of Zaire’s children die before the age of 5. Huge cuts in non-political aid to Africa, as currently considered by Congress, would sentence many youngsters to die across the continent.

Of course there is far more to Africa than the often-documented famines and slaughters. Democracy is taking root in South Africa, Namibia, Ghana and other African nations. A stronger Organization for African Unity, capable of financing peacekeeping forces that could resolve regional conflicts, holds a promise of progress.

There’s economic headway as well to be made for Africa’s nations. U.S. exports to sub-Saharan Africa in 1994 were 22% higher than all exports to the former Soviet Union. That increasing globalization of the American economy is yet another reason for the United States not to severely cut its aid to African nations.