Mysterious Disease Kills 53 People In Congo

The Washington Post (2/25, Ho) reports an unidentified illness has claimed 53 lives in the Democratic Republic of Congo, particularly affecting two villages in Équateur province. The World Health Organization (WHO) has reported at least 431 cases with symptoms including fever, vomiting, diarrhea, and severe fatigue, with a fatality rate of 12.3%. The initial cases were traced back “to the village of Boloko, where three children under the age of 5 died after reportedly eating a bat carcass, health officials said.” Despite testing, the pathogen remains unidentified as samples were negative for known hemorrhagic fevers like Ebola. The WHO emphasized the urgency of identifying the causative agent due to the potential risk of further spread, exacerbated by the region’s limited healthcare infrastructure. The AP (2/25, Kamale) reports, “These ‘hemorrhagic fever’ symptoms are commonly linked to known deadly viruses, such as Ebola, dengue, Marburg and yellow fever, but researchers have ruled these out based on tests of more than a dozen samples collected so far.”