Deadly mystery illness has DR Congo on alert

Health authorities in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) are investigating the outbreak of a disease that has killed dozens of people.

"We don't know if we are dealing with a viral disease or a bacterial disease," Dieudonne Mwamba, director general of the National Public Health Institute, said during an online press briefing by the AU's health watchdog, Africa CDC.

So far, authorities have confirmed nearly 80 deaths out of 376 reported cases, with the first infections recorded at the end of October.

Children at high risk of infection

The unknown disease is currently concentrated in the Panzi district in the Kwango province, located about 435 miles (700 kilometers) from the capital, Kinshasa. Panzi district is remote, with difficult-to-access roads and nearly non-existent health infrastructure.

Authorities have dispatched a medical research team, including epidemiologists, to the site to assess the situation and take samples to Kikwit for analysis.

According to the Health Minister Samuel-Roger Kamba, people present symptoms of fever, cough, runny nose, headache and body aches.

"This is a syndrome that resembles a flu syndrome with respiratory distress for some children and for some people who have died," the minister said.

He said 40% of cases had occurred in children younger than 5, most of whom were "already fragile due to malnutrition."

There is also an abnormal drop in hemoglobin levels in the blood, according to provincial Health Minister Apollinaire Yumba.

He advised the population to abstain from all contact with corpses to avoid contamination and, at the same time, appealed to national and international authorities to send medical supplies.

According to an anonymous source within the World Health Organization, the WHO has also sent a team.

Measures to contain the illness

Kamba said the seasonal flu period ran from October to March, peaking in December, which is something to consider when dealing with the mysterious disease.

"Is it a severe seasonal flu with people on the table who are fragile because of malnutrition, because of anemia, because of other diseases? Or is it another germ? We will know with the results," he said.

Vice Governor Remy Saki told DW that the province has implemented measures to prevent the epidemic from spreading.

"Among these measures, for example, immigration officials have been asked to limit the movement of people and to register the entry and exit of people from surrounding villages, as well as to apply the barrier measures previously used during the coronavirus period. Wearing a mask is also required," he said.

Mpox is still a threat

DR Congo is already plagued by the Mpox epidemic, with more than 47,000 suspected cases and over 1,000 suspected deaths from the disease in the Central African country, according to the World Health Organization.

Dieudonne Mwamba, director general of the National Public Health Institute, said officials were on "maximum alert" and would need to confirm whether the unknown disease is a respiratory infection.

"We must note also that, in the Panzi health zone, there was a large typhoid epidemic two years ago and that the malnutrition rates in this health zone are at around 40%. These are vulnerability factors," he added.

This article was initially published in French.

Edited by: Chrispin Mwakideu