A mysterious illness has emerged in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), raising serious concerns among health experts. According to media reports, the disease was first reported three children who ate a bat has killed more than 50 people over the past five weeks.
The health bulletin of the World Health Organization (WHO) revealed that as of 16 February there have been 431 cases and 53 deaths in two outbreaks across remote villages in Équateur province.
“The outbreaks, which have seen cases rise rapidly within days, pose a significant public health threat. The exact cause remains unknown,” a WHO spokesperson, Tarik Jašarević, told a briefing on Tuesday as quoted by The Guardian. He also maintained that the villages have limited surveillance capacity and health infrastructure.
On 13 February, a larger outbreak was reported from Bomate village in the Basankusu health zone and it has killed 45 people out of 419 cases.
What are the symptoms?
Serge Ngalebato, medical director of Bikoro hospital, a regional monitoring centre, as quoted by The Guardian, revealed that the interval between onset of symptoms and death has been 48 hours in most cases.
Some of the commonly reported symptoms include fever, vomiting and internal bleeding. Reportedly, the samples from 13 cases have tested negative for Ebola and Marburg. According to The Guardian, health teams were locally investigating other potential causes, including malaria, food poisoning, typhoid, meningitis or other viral haemorrhagic fevers.
The WHO also stated that an earlier outbreak, involving eight deaths among 12 cases, was reported from Boloko village in the Bolomba health zone on 21 January. Symptoms also include fever and fatigue that progresses to haemorrhagic signs such as nosebleeds and vomiting blood.
The WHO said no links had been established between the two clusters of cases.
“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,” said Jašarević, noting similar outbreaks in the past.
An outbreak of unknown cause reported in the DRC in December was ultimately identified as malaria, The Guardian reported. There is currently little information about the illnesses in Bomate, Boloko and Danda, but the WHO investigation is ongoing.