At least 53 people have been killed by an unknown illness in recent weeks in the northwestern part of Democratic Republic of the Congo, the World Health Organization (WHO) has reported.
The organization said 431 cases had been recorded in two outbreaks in remote areas of the African country’s Equateur province as of February 15. In the village of Bomate, 45 people have died out of 419 known cases. A total of eight deaths out of 12 cases had earlier been reported in the nearby villages of Boloko and Danda, it stated.
Symptoms include fevers, chills, headache, body aches, sweating, neck stiffness, coughing, vomiting, diarrhea, and abdominal cramps. Nearly half of the deaths are believed to occur within 48 hours of the first signs appearing, according to the WHO.
“The outbreaks, which have seen cases rise rapidly within days, pose a significant public health threat. The exact cause remains unknown,” WHO spokesperson Tarik Jasarevic told a briefing on Tuesday.
In a recently published bulletin, the global health agency said samples from 12 active cases and one deceased person had tested negative for Ebola and Marburg. Health teams are investigating other possible causes, including malaria, viral hemorrhagic fever, food or water poisoning, typhoid fever, and meningitis, WHO added.
The latest crisis, which reportedly began in Boloko after three children ate a dead bat and died within 48 hours, comes amid other public health challenges in the Central African country.
The DR Congo has been identified as the epicenter of a severe outbreak of the Mpox virus, formerly known as monkeypox, with over 2,000 new suspected cases weekly, according to the WHO. In December, the former Belgian colony’s Health Ministry identified a previously unknown disease that had spread in the southwestern Kwango province as a severe form of malaria. The illness, which causes fevers, headaches, coughing, runny noses, and body aches, claimed 143 lives in November.
The country has also been devastated by armed clashes in its eastern region since the beginning of the year, driven by militants of the M23 group, one of dozens of rebel groups fighting the government for control of territories and mineral resources. About 7,000 people have been killed in the fighting, Congolese Prime Minister Judith Suminwa told a high-level meeting of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva on Monday.
The WHO has warned that the escalating violence will “further destabilize the region, heighten public health risks, and worsen human suffering” if immediate action is not taken.
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