Mystery illness kills more than 50 people within hours

An unknown illness has killed more than 50 people in northwestern Congo over the past five weeks, according doctors on the ground and the World Health Organisation (WHO). 

The interval between the onset of symptoms - which include fever, vomiting and internal bleeding - and death has been 48 hours in the majority of cases, and “that’s what’s really worrying”, according to Serge Ngalebato, medical director of Bikoro Hospital, a regional monitoring centre.

The outbreak began on  January 21, with 419 cases recorded including 53 deaths.

According to WHO's Africa office, the outbreak began in the town of Boloko after three children ate a bat and died within 48 hours following the “hemorrhagic fever” symptoms. 

While these symptoms are commonly linked to known deadly viruses, such as Ebola, dengue, Marburg and yellow fever, researchers have ruled these out following a series of tests of more than a dozen samples collected so far. 

The tests were conducted after the second outbreak of the mystery disease in the town of Bomate on February 9, with samples from 13 cases sent to the National Institute for Biomedical Research in DR Congo’s capital Kinshasa for testing, the WHO said.

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All samples were negative for common hemorrhagic fever diseases, although some tested positive for malaria.

The number of outbreaks from diseases spreading from animals to humans in places where wild animals are popularly eaten has been a concern, with outbreaks in Africa surging by more than 60 per cent in the last decade, the WHO said in 2022.

Last year, another mystery flu-like illness that killed dozens of people in another part of Congo was determined to be likely malaria. 

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