Patients with the strange Congo disease test positive for malaria, but this does not clarify the mystery

Deaths continue to rise in southwestern Democratic Republic of the Congo due to a disease not yet identified. Authorities have so far confirmed 71 deaths, 27 of them in hospitals and 44 in the community, in the southern province of Kwango. Precisely for this reason, the World Health Organization (WHO) has sent a team of experts to the field to collect samples, perform laboratory analyzes and thus identify the pathogenic agent responsible for the epidemic. The first diagnoses lead us to think that it is a respiratory disease“he explained at a press conference Jean Kaseyahead of the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. “But we have to wait for the laboratory results,” added the expert, stressing that there are many aspects that are still unknown about the disease, including whether it is contagious and as is transmitted.

The first results

The first data has finally arrived and they say that most samples tested positive for malaria. However, according to the WHO, the still undiagnosed disease could be the sum of various diseases. “Of the 12 initial samples collected, 10 tested positive for malaria, although it is possible that it is more than one disease,” explained Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director general of the WHO. “More samples will be collected and analyzed to determine the exact cause(s),” the expert continued, recalling that in the affected area there are high levels of malnutrition and go down vaccination coveragewhich makes the children are more vulnerable to a series of diseases such as malaria, pneumonia or measles.

The figures

The deaths, as reported Reuterswere recorded in the province of Kwango, located in the southwest of the country, specifically in the area of Panzi. According to the Minister of Health, Roger Kamba, as reported APthey occurred 71 deaths between November 10 and 25, of which 27 died in hospitals and 44 in the community in the southern province of Kwango. Among the hospitalized victims, 10 died due to lack of blood transfusions and 17 for respiratory problems. In addition, according to the minister, there were about 380 cases, almost half of them in children minors five years. The Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, however, recorded slightly different figures, with 376 cases and 79 deaths. The discrepancy, Kaseya said, is due to problems with surveillance and case definition.

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The mysterious illness

People infected by the mysterious disease present flu-like symptomssuch as cough, vomiting, “high fever and severe headaches,” they explained Remy Saki, deputy governor of Kwango province, and Apollinaire Yumba, provincial minister of Health. The latter, according to APnoted that authorities are urging citizens to be careful and avoid contact with corpses to avoid possible infections. However, the number of infected continues to increase, as does the alert level. It must also be taken into account that it is a “fragile” region, in which 40% of its inhabitants suffer from malnutrition, lack of medications and access to medical assistance It is extremely complex. “Panzi is a rural health zone, so there is a problem with the supply of medicines,” explained the local administrator Cephorien Manzanza. “The sick die at home due to lack of treatment,” say Saki and Yumba.

The Mpox epidemic

Let us briefly recall that the Democratic Republic of the Congo is also facing a serious epidemic of monkeypox (Mpox). So much so that last August a public health emergency of international importance. By early November, the total number of suspected smallpox cases on the African continent exceeded 50,000, with a high percentage of cases in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Until December 1, according to reported WHO, 20 African countries had reported 13,081 cases of monkeypox analyzed in the laboratory, of which 55 had died from the disease. A significant number of suspected cases “clinically compatible with Mpox“were not officially confirmed due to lack of evidence, the WHO noted.

Article originally published in WIRED Italy. Adapted by Mauricio Serfatty Godoy.