A mysterious illness has killed at least 27 people in just over a month in the southwest of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), according to health authorities in this central African country.
The World Health Organization told AFP it was working with Congolese authorities “to understand the situation”.
Several cases of a mysterious illness have been reported in the Panzi region, located some 700 km southeast of the Congolese capital Kinshasa. An illness, which causes fever, headache and cough, so far affects people of all ages, including children.
“An unknown public health event” detected since October 24 “already caused the death of 27 people out of a total of 382 people affected”according to the National Institute of Public Health in a report dating from Tuesday evening. According to local authorities, however, the toll could be higher: “Civil society and the head doctor of the Panzi health zone reported the loss of 67 human lives”declared the provincial Minister of Health, Apollinaire Yumba.
Epidemiologists sent to the site
A team of epidemiologists was sent to the site, added Mr. Yumba, calling on the population not to panic and to limit movements. “Entrances and exits into this health zone must be limited, (it is necessary) to avoid greeting each other by shaking hands, to wash hands regularly”he enjoined.
The World Health Organization told AFP it was working with Congolese authorities “to understand the situation” and also sent a team to the site “to collect samples for laboratory analysis”.
The DRC has already been hit hard in recent months by the mpox virus with more than 1,000 deaths.
The epicenter of the epidemic, one of the poorest countries on the planet, has recently seen the number of cases of this disease – formerly called monkeypox – decrease slightly.
Swiss
