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The unknown disease that has affected Panzi, in the Democratic Republic of Congo, has already affected hundreds of people and it is difficult to understand why it was caused. Some people talk about an epidemic.
“Disease X” is a provisional name. This is what the World Health Organization uses to designate priority diseases that represent a unknown pathogen that could start a future epidemictells .
The World Health Organization at a press conference this Tuesday that 10 of the 12 samples tested positive for malariabut it is possible that there is more than one disease involved.
For now, it is not 100% clear that this is a new disease. Acute pneumonia, COVID-19, measles, and malaria may be contributing to this disease.
It all started the day October 24thwhen, in the province of Kwango, Congo, the first patient with the mysterious disease that affects the Panzi region fell ill.
Now, the WHO has registered 406 cases between October 24th and December 5th, the vast majority of which were children. “The clinical presentation of patients includes symptoms such as fever (96.5%), cough (87.9%), fatigue (60.9%) and runny nose (57.8%)”, reports the WHO. There have already been fatalities.
“When it comes to Disease X in Congo, one thing we often forget is that most diseases come from animals. There is a animal transmission for human beings. And that means that we don’t always make peace with nature”, he says. ThankGod Ebenezerfounder of the African BioGenome Project research project.
It also remembers that most diseases that affect humans — including HIV/AIDS, SARS and, COVID, most likely, originated in animals.
“The area has seen a deterioration in food insecurity in recent months, there is a low vaccination coverage and very limited access to diagnosis and the quality management of cases”, added the organization.
“Is it an infectious disease? Is it a non-infectious disease? If we talk about infectious diseases, is it a viral infection? Is it a bacterial infection? Is it a fungal infection? Is it a parasitic infection? There are so many things we don’t know“, it says Jean Kaseyadirector general of Africa CDC.
“We want to know very quickly, what is this disease? The world is wondering.” The epicenter in the Panzi Health Zone also highlights anurgent need for laboratory infrastructure decentralized.
In fact, the investigation has faced several obstacles, ranging from lack of laboratories close to the site due to difficult accessibility in the region.
ZME further explains that “this does not just concern the Democratic Republic of Congo or Africa — Diseases have no borders and can affect everyone.”
