A mysterious illness killed many people in the southwestern Democratic Republic of Congo last November. Health officials in the country are still trying to find the cause of the illness.
According to CNN, the authorities informed the media for the first time about the mysterious disease last week. So far, 143 people are believed to have died from the disease.
The epicenter of the disease has been identified in the Panji region of the Congo's southwestern Kwango province. All the deaths were recorded between November 10 and November 25. But the first reports of the disease were probably received in late October.
Different sources have different information about the death toll. Assistant provincial governor Remy Saki told the Associated Press (AP) on Tuesday, “between 67 and 143 people have died from the disease during that period.”
Saki said a team of epidemiologists will collect samples from the area and identify the problem.
Provincial Health Minister Apollinaire Yamba mentioned fever, headache, cough and anemia among the various symptoms of the disease. These symptoms were observed before death.
Yamba also advised people to be cautious. He asked to avoid contact with dead bodies to avoid infection. He also urged national and international partners to send medical supplies to combat this health crisis.
Health experts fear that these deaths may also be due to chemically contaminated food or water. It may also be the outbreak of a new virus. Recently, a new type of bird flu has acquired the ability to easily spread to humans.
Most alarmingly, most of those who died from the disease were teenagers above the age of 15. This is unusual in infectious diseases. Because usually very young or old people are at the highest risk of infection.
The World Health Organization is aware of the disease and has sent a team to work with local officials. According to the agency, the Congo is already plagued by an empox epidemic. So far more than 47 thousand people have been diagnosed with empox in the country and more than a thousand have died.
