An outbreak of diseases occurred in a village in northwestern Congo after a group of children ate a bat. They developed terrible symptoms and died within 48 hours.
Health workers are trying to figure out what is happening in Congo after a mystery illness that causes severe crying attacks killed more than 50 people in five weeks, with nearly half dying within hours of infection.
The outbreaks, which include 419 cases and 53 deaths, have been reported in two remote villages in Congo's Equateur Province since January 21. Officials are unclear about the cause and are unsure whether the cases in the two villages, 120 miles apart, are linked. Worryingly, they have yet to determine how the disease is spread.
The first victims were children who died within 48 hours of eating the bat, according to the World Health Organization's Africa office. More cases were reported in another village. Some of the victims also had malaria.
The victims suffered from hemorrhagic disease, which included fever, vomiting and severe internal bleeding, health officials said in a statement. Others had neck and joint pain, shortness of breath and profuse sweating. Children were crying constantly. Patients under 59 suffered from extreme thirst.
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The cases are concentrated in two remote villages in different health zones of Equateur Province, located 400 miles (640 kilometers) from Kinshasa.
The first outbreak began in the village of Boloko when three children ate a bat and died within 48 hours. More than two weeks later, a second, larger outbreak occurred in the village of Bomate, where more than 400 people fell ill.
Dr. Serge Ngalebato, chief medical officer at Bikoro Hospital, a regional monitoring center and one of the government experts deployed to respond to the outbreak, notes that the situations in the two villages are somewhat different.
“The first episode where there were many deaths, we are still investigating because it is an unusual situation. In the second episode that we are facing, we are seeing many cases of malaria,” Dr Ngalebato said.
WHO Africa said the rapid progression to death in Boloko was a key concern, along with the high mortality rate in Bomata. Congo's health ministry said about 80% of patients had similar symptoms, including fever, chills, body aches and diarrhea.
While these symptoms can be caused by a variety of common infections, health officials initially expressed concerns that the symptoms and rapid death of some victims could indicate a hemorrhagic fever such as Ebola, which has also been linked to infected animals.
However, Ebola and similar diseases including Marburg were ruled out after more than a dozen samples were collected and tested in the capital Kinshasa. The WHO said it was investigating a range of possible causes, including malaria, viral haemorrhagic fever, food or water poisoning, typhoid fever and meningitis.
Sourse: www.mirror.co.uk
