The Democratic Republic of Congo has recorded 419 cases of a mysterious illness that has killed 53 people. The symptoms of the disease resemble hemorrhagic fever.
More than 50 people have died from an unknown, rapidly progressing disease with a disturbing list of symptoms, according to local doctors.
In most cases, deaths occurred within 48 hours of the first symptoms, which was described as “really worrying,” according to Serge Ngalebato, medical director of Bikoro Hospital, a regional monitoring center in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The outbreak of the mysterious disease began on January 21, and so far 419 cases have been reported, including 53 deaths.
The first outbreak was reported in the town of Boloko after three children ate a bat and died within 48 hours of developing symptoms of haemorrhagic fever, according to the World Health Organization (WHO) Africa office. Concerns about diseases transmitted from animals to humans have long been reported in areas where wild animals are traditionally eaten.
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In 2022, the number of such outbreaks in Africa increased by more than 60% in the past decade, according to the WHO. The second outbreak of the currently unknown disease began in the city of Bomate on February 9, from where samples from 13 cases were sent to the National Institute of Biomedical Research in the capital Kinshasa for analysis.
So far, all the samples have tested negative for Ebola and other common hemorrhagic fevers such as Marburg, but some have tested positive for malaria. Last year, another mysterious flu-like illness that killed dozens of people in another part of the country was found to be likely malaria.
Viral hemorrhagic fevers can be transmitted in a variety of ways, including:
- contact between people through direct interaction with sick people, body fluids or corpses
- Insufficient control of infectious diseases in healthcare settings
- methods of slaughtering cattle
- consumption of raw meat from infected animals or unpasteurized milk
- direct contact with rodents or inhalation of or contact with materials contaminated with their excrement
- mosquito or tick bites
Viral hemorrhagic fevers (VHFs) include Ebola, Marburg, Lassa fever, Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever, Rif Valley fever, and Alkhurma hemorrhagic fever. Symptoms of hemorrhagic fever vary depending on the type of VHF, but often include:
- High temperature
- Fatigue
- Dizziness
- Muscle pain
- Loss of strength and exhaustion
- Bleeding under the skin
- Internal bleeding
- Bleeding from orifices such as the mouth, eyes, and ears
- Signs of shock
- Disruption of the nervous system
- Coma, delirium
- Attacks
Sourse: www.mirror.co.uk
