The World Health Organization (WHO) said on Friday that a mysterious disease in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has spread to another village, adding 141 more confirmed cases, bringing the death toll to 60.
A cluster of new infectious diseases was reported in the Bassunks Health Zone, approximately 40 miles from the initial outbreak area. All previous cases are the size of Kentucky and occur within the state of Ecourt, DRC, which spans the Congo River.
Outbreak It's begun On January 21, three young children reportedly ate a bat body died, and later became ill with a rapidly migrating hemorrhagic fever. Tests performed on the victims ruled out known diseases such as Ebola, Marburg virus and yellow fever.
Who is I said On Thursday, the symptoms stated, “Increased disease surveillance identified a total of 1,096 people with illnesses” show symptoms such as fever, headache, chills, sweating, stiff neck, muscle pain, multiple joint pain, body pain, flow or bleeding from the nose, cough, vomiting, and diarrhea.”
“Experts are increasing the surveillance of diseases, interviewing community members to understand the background and providing treatment for diseases such as malaria, typhoid fever and meningitis,” the UN Health Organization said.
Approximately half of the samples taken from the victims said “we have tested positive for malaria, which is common in the area.”
It appears that the Congolese illness can be exacerbated by malaria, meningitis, or food poisoning in the victim's system. Investigators said they were looking for “abnormal patterns” that could explain the pathogenicity and fatality of the disease.
Along with “poor roads and communications infrastructure,” those who say “remote” in the outbreak area will restrict residents' access to testing and treatment.
