The World Health Organization (WHO) said Monday that the outbreak of the mystical disease in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has killed 53 people since it began on January 21.
The outbreak appears to have started after three children in the village of Boroko had eaten bats.
Local medical professionals explained It is a mysterious disease as a hemorrhagic fever like Ebola and Marburg virus, but it has distinct characteristics from those infamous diseases. The victim tested negative for Ebola, Marburg and yellow fever.
New illnesses move fast and frequently fatal. Local doctors said the average interval between initial symptoms and death was 48 hours. Early symptoms include vomiting, high fever, and internal bleeding.
As of February 15th, 431 cases of the disease were Confirmed It crosses the province of the DRC's equestrian corps, a vast, lightly populated area along the Congo River. The fatality rate for outbreaks is 12.3%.
He noted that the region's “remote locations and weak medical infrastructure” increased the risk of infection with the disease.
The first outbreak in the village of Boroko was followed by an infection in a nearby village called Danda, followed by a much larger outbreak in the village of Bomate.
Investigator believe The first three cases were a trio of children under the age of five who fell ill after eating a dead bat. Bats are being done With your fingers As a suspect Among other diseases, in the ambiguous origin of the Uhan coronavirus.
Three children who ate bats I'm dead Between January 10th and 13th, they reportedly bleeding from their noses and vomiting blood before succumbing to the disease. Four children from Boroco, ages 5 to 18, would have died within the next two weeks, and by then a larger secondary outbreak was ongoing at Bomart.
Further testing is pending. He said it is not certain whether the two outbreaks are directly related, but he called for “immediate high levels of intervention” to prevent the mystical illness from spreading further.
