Congo: Over 50 Dead from Rapid Illness

An undisclosed illness that initially appeared in three children who consumed a bat has swiftly claimed over 50 lives in northwestern Congo in the past five weeks, according to health experts.

The symptoms, which include fever, vomiting, and internal bleeding, typically lead to death within 48 hours. This rapid progression is cause for significant concern, stated Serge Ngalebato, the medical director at Bikoro Hospital, a regional center for health monitoring.

Commonly associated symptoms with deadly viruses like Ebola, dengue, Marburg, and yellow fever have been ruled out through tests conducted on over a dozen samples collected thus far.

This latest outbreak of a disease in the Democratic Republic of Congo was detected starting January 21, recording 419 cases and resulting in 53 fatalities.

The emergence of the illness began in the village of Boloko, triggered by the deaths of three children who had eaten a bat and succumbed within two days, as reported by the Africa office of the World Health Organization on Monday.

There has been longstanding anxiety regarding diseases transferring from animals to humans, particularly in regions where the consumption of wild animals is prevalent. According to WHO’s 2022 report, Africa has witnessed an increase of over 60% in such outbreaks over the last ten years.

Following the emergence of a second outbreak in the village of Bomate on February 9, 13 case samples were dispatched to the National Institute for Biomedical Research located in Congo’s capital, Kinshasa, for comprehensive analysis, WHO revealed. All samples were found negative for known hemorrhagic fever diseases; however, some exhibited a positive result for malaria.

In the preceding year, a mystery flu-like illness that claimed the lives of dozens in another region of Congo was later suspected to be malaria.