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An obscure illness has resulted in over 50 fatalities in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), as conveyed by local doctors and international health organizations.

The time frame between the appearance of symptoms and death is typically 48 hours, causing significant alarm. Serge Ngalebato, medical director of Bikoro Hospital, a regional monitoring center, expressed this concern to The Associated Press.

The most recent illness outbreak in the northwestern region of the Central African nation commenced on January 21. Since then, there have been 419 recorded cases, including 53 fatalities.

According to the World Health Organization’s (WHO) Africa office, the initial outbreak in the town of Boloko was triggered when three children consumed a bat and perished within 48 hours, exhibiting symptoms of hemorrhagic fever.

There is a long-standing concern about illnesses transmitting from animals to humans in areas where the consumption of wild animals is prevalent.

Increased Outbreaks

As stated by the WHO in 2022, the frequency of such outbreaks in Africa has escalated by over 60 percent in the last decade.

The second outbreak of the unidentified disease emerged in the town of Bomate on February 9.

Thirteen case samples have been sent to the National Institute for Biomedical Research in the capital city Kinshasa for analysis, the WHO reported.

All samples tested negative for Ebola or other common hemorrhagic fever diseases like Marburg. Some samples did show positive for malaria.

Last year, another mysterious flu-like illness that took dozens of lives in another part of the DRC was subsequently attributed to severe malaria.

The country is also contending with an mpox outbreak and an active conflict involving Rwanda-backed rebels.