02/25/2025

WHO Warns "Unknown Disease" is Rampaging through the Congo

The disease has left 53 dead in just a matter of days

An unknown illness has killed 53 people in a northwest region of the Democratic Republic of Congo, with a significant portion of deaths taking place within 48 hours of the onset of symptoms, according to the World Health Organization (WHO), which describes the outbreak as posing “a significant public health threat.”

At least 431 cases have been reported since January of individuals suffering from fever, vomiting, diarrhea, muscle aches, headaches and fatigue, according to the WHO’s Africa office. The illness — believed to have broken out in two separate villages in Équateur province — has a fatality rate of 12.3 percent, the WHO said.

Investigators traced the outbreak’s origin to Boloko Village, where three children under the age of 5 died after reportedly eating a bat carcass, health officials said. In addition to the other symptoms reported with this disease, the three children suffered through symptoms similar to those of a hemorrhagic fever — bleeding from the nose and the vomiting of blood — before they died between Jan. 10 and Jan. 13.

Please select this link to read the complete article from The Washington Post.