[Image: Pexels]
An unknown disease has killed 53 people in a northwest region of the Democratic Republic of Congo, with deaths taking place within 48 hours after the onset of symptoms, according to the World Health Organization.
Describing it as “a significant public health threat,” the WHO said at least 431 cases have been reported since January, with individuals suffering from fever, vomiting, diarrhoea, muscle aches, headaches and fatigue.
According to the WHO’s Africa office, the illness – believed to have broken out in two separate villages in Équateur province – has a fatality rate of 12.3%.
“The outbreaks, which have seen cases rise rapidly within days, pose a significant public health threat. The exact cause remains unknown.”
Investigators traced the outbreak’s origin to Boloko Village, where three children under the age of 5 died after reportedly eating a bat carcass, health officials said. In addition to the other symptoms reported with this disease, the three children suffered symptoms similar to those of hemorrhagic fever – bleeding from the nose and the vomiting of blood – before they died.
Four more children from the same village between the ages of 5 and 18 died, and a further 10 cases and seven deaths were reported in Boloko Village, with two cases and one death out of the nearby Danda Village, the WHO said.
“We are looking into whether it is another infection or whether it is some toxic agent. We have to see what can be done and at what point WHO can support.”
The WHO said less than two weeks later, a second outbreak of the mystery disease was reported to health officials in the village of Bomate. By mid-February, investigators had identified 419 cases of the virus there, with 45 deaths.
Samples from 13 cases have tested negative for Ebola and Marburg, but the WHO said health teams were locally investigating other potential causes, including malaria, food poisoning, typhoid, meningitis or other viral haemorrhagic fever.
[Source: Washington Post & Reuters]
