An unknown disease has claimed over 50 lives in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), as reported by doctors.
The World Health Organisation’s (WHO) Africa office has confirmed the first occurrence of the disease in the town of Boloko, located in the northwest of the country.
Three children consuming bat meat reportedly died due to symptoms of haemorrhagic fever.
The time lapse between the emergence of symptoms and death is approximately 48 hours in most cases.
“This is extremely concerning,” remarked Serge Ngalebato, Medical Director of Bikoro Hospital, a regional monitoring center, to The Associated Press.
An outbreak was reported in Boloko in January followed by more cases in Bomate in February
The outbreak commenced on 21 January, with 419 cases recorded, including 53 fatalities.
A second outbreak of the mysterious illness occurred in the town of Bomate on 9 February.
Samples from 13 cases have been dispatched for testing to the National Institute for Biomedical Research in the DRC’s capital, Kinshasa, as stated by the WHO.
All samples have tested negative for Ebola or other common haemorrhagic fever diseases like Marburg. Some tested positive for malaria.
In 2022, another flu-like illness that resulted in numerous fatalities in a different part of Congo was likely attributed to malaria.
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Scientists have long been concerned about diseases jumping from animals to humans in areas where wild animals are consumed.
According to the WHO, there has been a more than 60% increase in such occurrences in Africa over the past decade.
