Deadly Mystery Illness in Congo Claims Over 50 Lives Within Hours of Symptoms Appearing

 Deadly Mystery Illness in Congo Claims Over 50 Lives Within Hours of Symptoms Appearing

A mysterious disease, initially detected in three children who consumed a bat, has rapidly claimed the lives of more than 50 individuals in northwestern Congo over the past five weeks, according to health officials.

The time between the emergence of symptoms—such as fever, vomiting, and internal bleeding—and death has been a mere 48 hours in most cases. “‘That’s what’s really worrying,’” noted Serge Ngalebato, who serves as the medical director of Bikoro Hospital, a key regional health monitoring facility.

Symptoms associated with this illness resemble those of well-documented lethal viruses, including Ebola, dengue, Marburg, and yellow fever. However, medical experts have ruled these out after conducting tests on over a dozen collected samples.

This outbreak, the latest in the Democratic Republic of Congo, started on January 21 and has resulted in 419 reported cases and 53 fatalities.

The first cases emerged in Boloko village, where three children who had eaten a bat succumbed within 48 hours, the Africa office of the World Health Organization (WHO) confirmed on Monday.

Concerns about the transmission of diseases from animals to humans have long existed, especially in regions where wild animals are part of the diet.

The WHO reported in 2022 that Africa has seen a more than 60% rise in such outbreaks over the last ten years.

A second wave of the illness surfaced in Bomate village on February 9. As a result, 13 samples were sent to the National Institute for Biomedical Research in Kinshasa for analysis, according to WHO officials.

Despite initial fears, tests confirmed that none of the samples contained known hemorrhagic fever viruses. However, some tested positive for malaria.

Last year, a separate unidentified flu-like illness that led to multiple deaths in another part of Congo was later determined to have likely been caused by malaria.