CONGO is set to issue an urgent update on the mysterious “flu-like” disease that has killed 143 people in just two weeks.
Grief-stricken families were warned against touching their dead loved ones as the World Health Organization (WHO) launched an urgent probe into the outbreak.
4
4
Congo’s health minister said on Thursday the government is on alert for the mystery disease.
Authorities have so far confirmed 71 deaths, including 27 people who died in hospitals and 44 in the community in the southern Kwango province, health minister Roger Kamba said.
The Congolese government is on general alert regarding this disease,” Kamba said, without providing more details.
Of the victims at the hospitals, 10 died due to lack of blood transfusion and 17 as a result of respiratory problems, he said.
Authorities have said that symptoms include fever, headache, cough and anaemia.
Epidemiological experts have been sent to the remote area in DR Congo to investigate the unknown illness.
The team will collect samples for lab investigations.
Those infected with the disease have suffered from symptoms including high fever and severe headaches.
The illness has so far affected people of all ages including children – mainly in the Kwango province in the southwest of the Democratic Republic of Congo, near the border with Angola.
Officials have warned that the situation is “extremely worrying” and that the death toll continues to rise.
Due to a lack of treatment, those infected with the unknown illness are reportedly tragically dying in their own homes.
And a local epidemiologist said that women and children were the most seriously affected by the disease.
Health officials are yet to report on results from the samples and tests, and it is unclear whether patients have tested negative for other common diseases.
No data has been released on the number of patients that are suspected to have been infected or hospitalised in the horrific outbreak.
The deputy provincial governor, Rmy Saki, said “a team of epidemiological experts is expected in the region to take samples and identify the problem.”
Congo is already battling an m-pox epidemic, with more than 47,000 suspected cases in the country.
This wave of the m-pox has killed over 1,000 people in the Central African Country, according to the WHO.
The killer disease that causes legions all over the body of the people it infects spread quickly along the eastern border of DCR this year.
The current m-pox outbreak is being driven by sexual transmission, but there is also evidence it can spread through skin-on-skin contact.
Global health experts warned earlier this year that the cases in Congo are being driven by the “most dangerous strain yet”.
Crisis in Congo
In 2022, a relatively mild variant of mpox (formerly known as monkeypox) caused a public health emergency.
In 2023, a far more deadly strain of mpox emerged, killing at least 500 people and infecting 13,700 during an initial outbreak.
The virus spread to 12 other African countries, raising concerns among scientists about its rapid spread and high fatality rate.
The WHO declared it a global public health emergency.
Recently, an unknown “flu-like” disease targeting women and children has killed 143 people in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) within two weeks.
Infected individuals in Kwango province, located in the Southwest of the DRC near the border with Angola, have experienced high fever and severe headaches.
The World Health Organisation has launched an urgent investigation into the disease.
Medical teams have been dispatched to collect samples and conduct analyses to identify the illness.
However, other officials have expressed grave concerns as the death toll continues to rise.
Due to a lack of treatment, many infected individuals are dying at home.
Women and children are the most severely affected.
Health officials have not yet released results from the samples and tests, and it is unclear whether patients have tested negative for other common diseases.
No data has been provided on the number of suspected or hospitalised cases.
4
4
