The World Health Organization (WHO) has been warning for years about the arrival of disease “X”a phantom pathogen that could emerge and spread rapidly throughout the planet. It sounded like a dystopia when the WHO first included this unknown disease in the list of viruses, bacteria, parasites and fungi that could represent a threat to humanity, but Covid-19 emerged, an infection generated by a new virus, and now It is not so easy to take the warning lightly.
Covid was at first also a disease
The new candidate to become that disease “x” has just emerged on the African continent. The first cases of this infection, which has not yet been identified, were reported on October 25 in Panzi, a rural area in the province of Kwango, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. There the health problems get worse. 40 percent of the population is malnourished, the country is still fighting one of the worst outbreaks of mpox or monkeypox and has recently had typhoid fever epidemics while the seasonal flu season has also begun to take its toll.
In that scenario, an infection has emerged that appears to be different, but with flu-like symptoms: fever, cough, runny nose, joint pain, shortness of breath, and anemia. Although in the case of anemia it is not yet known if it is caused by the infection itself or if the disease is accompanied by a picture of anemia.
On high alert
With these symptoms it could be flu or Covid that affects a very vulnerable population due to their previous state of health, or a new infectious disease of which it is not yet known if it is caused by a virus or a bacteria, the health authorities have recognized. Congolese. “We are on maximum alert, we consider that it is a level of epidemic that we must monitor,” reported the Congolese Minister of Health, Samuel-Roger Kamba, at a press conference in Kinshasa, the capital of the African country.
The number of actual deaths is also unclear. It is feared that 143 people may have already died since the outbreak emerged, although the figures are not clear. Kamba said that, to date, 71 deaths have been confirmed, 27 of them registered in health centers in the region and 44 at home in just over a month, although it is still not clear whether these 44 deaths can be counted. to the mysterious illness. This Friday the WHO itself, citing figures from the Congolese Health, considered them valid 394 cases and 30 deaths in the Panzi health zone, about 700 kilometers from the capital, Kinshasa. It is in this area where what Congo’s health authorities have described as “an unknown public health case” has been located.
Children and adolescents
What does seem clear is that the most of those affected are minors and adolescents. Of the 27 who died in health centers, 21 were under ten years old. Seventeen of the cases died with respiratory problems and another ten had severe anemia that could not be combated because blood was not available to transfuse.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has begun deploying experts to help health authorities in the Democratic Republic of the Congo determine the cause. At the moment, the United Nations health agency is considering several possibilities: it could be an outbreak of malaria, measles or a respiratory virus such as flu or Covid-19 that is easily transmitted by air.
WHO experts have joined the National Rapid Response Team which is made up of epidemiologists, clinicians, laboratory technicians and infection prevention and control experts. Essential medicines as well as diagnostic and sample collection kits are also being delivered.
How is it transmitted?
«Our priority is to provide effective support to affected families and communities. “All efforts are underway to identify the cause of the disease, understand its modes of transmission and ensure an appropriate response as soon as possible,” he explained. this Friday in a statement Matshidiso Moeti, WHO regional director for Africa.
Panzi is a rural community located more than 700 kilometers from the capital, Kinshasa. Road access is difficult and the communications network is limited. So far, the disease has been reported in seven of the 30 health zones in Kwango province. The majority of cases have been reported in three of the seven affected health zones.
The WHO assures that it will share more information on efforts to identify the disease as soon as it is available.
#disease #mysterious #infection #investigating #Democratic #Republic #Congo