A potential outbreak of a flu-like illness has killed nearly 150 people in the region, mostly children over 15.
A mysterious illness has been killing dozens of people in the Democratic Republic of Congo since mid-November. Now health officials are scrambling to identify the cause and contain its spread.
DRC officials appear to have first briefed the media about the potential outbreak over the weekend, which may have killed as many as 143 people so far. Officials have begun to investigate and are advising residents to practice good hygiene and to avoid touching the dead. Little is known about the potential ailment as of yet, though victims have reportedly experienced flu-like symptoms like fever, headache, and cough, as well as anemia, before dying.
The outbreak seems to be centered in the Panzi health zone of the Kwango province, located in Southwestern Congo. Deaths connected to the outbreak were recorded between November 10 and November 25 so far, though the first reports of illness may have started in late October. There have been shifting reports on the number of linked deaths. Deputy provincial governor Rémy Saki told The Associated Press Tuesday that somewhere between 67 and 143 people are thought to have died; on Wednesday, Health Minister Samuel Kamba Roger stated that 79 deaths have occurred, while over 350 people have been sickened overall.
â€A team of epidemiological experts is expected in the region to take samples and identify the problem,†Saki told the AP.
Given the mostly non-specific symptoms associated with these deaths, there are many potential culprits for the outbreak, including known diseases previously seen in the region such as Ebola or mpox (formerly called monkeypox). It's also possible that these deaths are being caused by more than one source, which could include non-infectious causes, such as chemical contamination of food or water.
And there is, of course, the more remote but frightening possibility that a novel or unexpected emerging pathogen is behind this, such as a strain of avian influenza that has adapted to spread easily between people. One potentially worrying aspect is that the majority of deaths have occurred among children over the age of 15, according to health officials, which is a more unusual distribution for an infectious disease (infections in general these days tend to be most dangerous for very young or elderly people). At this point, though, there are more questions than answers.
The vast majority of the time, outbreaks that initially seem mysterious are ultimately traced back to known threats (though there was infamously that one recent time in late 2019 when it wasn't). But even if the cause of this cluster is more mundane, the sheer amount of victims seen over a short period of time is still gravely concerning and warrants immediate action to curtail.
The World Health Organization has been made aware of the situation and has established a team on the ground that is working with local officials to unearth the identity of the outbreak, according to the AP. In the meantime, officials have told residents in the area to report any strange deaths, to avoid mass gatherings, and to not handle any deceased bodies without the intervention of trained medical professionals.