Campinas, SP (UOL/Folhapress) – An unidentified disease killed more than 50 people in the Democratic Republic of Congo, with most victims passing on within 48 hours after the onset of symptoms. The outbreak began after three children eat a bat and die quickly. Health officials discarded that it is ebola or other common hemorrhagic fevers, but still investigate the cause of the disease, which has already recorded 419 cases.
The outbreak of mysterious disease began on January 21 in the city of Boloko, northwest of the Democratic Republic of Congo. According to WHO (World Health Organization), the first cases occurred after three children eat a bat and die in less than 48 hours, with symptoms of hemorrhagic fever.
According to the medical director of Bikoro Hospital, Serge Ngalebato, the interval between the onset of symptoms and the death is 48 hours in most cases is very worrying.
Since then, 419 cases of the disease have been recorded, with 53 confirmed deaths. A second outbreak was identified on February 9 in the city of Bomate.
Samples of 13 cases were sent to the National Institute for Biomedical Research in Kinshasa, the country’s capital. Tests discarded diseases such as ebola and other common hemorrhagic fevers. Some samples have given a positive malaria, but there is still no confirmation that it is the main cause of the outbreak.
According to WHO, the Democratic Republic of Congo faces frequent outbreaks of infectious diseases, many of them transmitted from animals to humans. Wildlife meat consumption is common in the region due to the lack of other sources of protein.
The number of outbreaks of this type in Africa has increased more than 60% in the last decade, according to WHO.
In 2024, an unknown disease, with symptoms similar to those of the flu, caused dozens of deaths in another area of the Democratic Republic of Congo. Subsequently, experts pointed to malaria as the probable cause of the outbreak.
