MORE than 70 people – of which almost half are children – have died of a mystery flu-like disease in Congo, the country’s health minister has said.
Those infected suffered from breathing problems, suggesting the disease is caused by a respiratory bug.
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The deaths were all recorded within just two weeks, between November 10 and 25 in the Kwango province, situated in the Southwest of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).
Health Minister Roger Kamba confirmed in a press conference today that local authorities have verified 71 deaths and 382 cases.
Among those who died in hospitals, ten succumbed to a lack of blood transfusions, and 17 died due to breathing complications, Roger explained.
He said that symptoms include fever, headache, cough and anaemia with some children and adults also experiencing severe difficulty breathing.
Epidemiological experts have arrived in the region to collect samples and investigate the disease.
Local official Apollinaire Yumba issued a troubling warning yesterday, urging people to avoid touching the bodies of deceased loved ones due to the risk of contamination
He made a desperate plea for medical supplies and international aid to deal with the unfolding crisis.
A civil society leader, Cephorien Manzanza, said that the situation was “extremely worrying”.
Manzanza told Reuters: “Panzi is a rural health zone, so there is a problem with the supply of medicines.”
A World Health Organization (WHO) spokesperson said the UN health agency had been alerted to the presence of the disease last week.
It also said it was working alongside DRC’s public health ministry to further investigate.
The DRC recently had an outbreak of an ultra-deadly strain of mpox which was declared by the WHO as a global public health emergency.
The highly contagious disease killed at least 500 people and infected 13,700 during an initial outbreak this year.
And in 2019 a deadly Ebola epidemic in Congo that killed more than 1,600 people was declared an international health emergency.
The WHO confirmed the crisis at the time after a case of the virus was found in a city of 2 million people.
Four symptoms of the mystery ‘flu-like’ bug
A mysterious disease with flu-like symptoms has killed dozens of people in the Democratic Republic of Congo
So far, we know some of the symptoms include:
- Fever
- Headache
- Cough
- Anaemia
- Difficulty breathing
