Marco Rubio’s comments on Ebola show he doesn’t understand what the World Health Organization does, the agency’s chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus suggested Wednesday.

The U.S. secretary of state had claimed Tuesday night that the WHO was “a little late” to detect the deadly outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo, which is spreading rapidly through the war-torn country.

“We don’t replace the countries’ work, we only support them,” Tedros told reporters at WHO headquarters. “It could be from lack of understanding of how [the International Health Regulations] work and [the] responsibilities of WHO and other entities,” he said of Rubio’s comments.

The exchange marks a further deterioration in relations between the WHO and its once-largest funder after the U.S. withdrew from the United Nations global health agency in January.

But it wasn't the only message the WHO had for its former member.

The agency also pushed back on the prospect of travel bans after the U.S. on Monday closed its border to non-U.S. travelers from the Democratic Republic of Congo, South Sudan and Uganda, in an attempt to prevent the deadly Bundibugyo virus from entering its territory.

https://www.politico.eu/article/who-marco-rubio-ebola-comments-congo-outbreak-travel-bans/