‘Death within 48 hours’: Mystery illness kills 53 in Congo, WHO says first outbreak after kids ate a bat

A mysterious illness has killed more than 50 people in northwestern Congo, news agency AP reported, citing doctors and the World Health Organization (WHO) on Monday.

Serge Ngalebato, the medical director of Bikoro Hospital, a regional monitoring centre, said to The Associated Press that most patients have died within 48 hours of showing the same symptoms of the mysterious illness, which is highly concerning.

The latest disease outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo began on 21 January, with 419 recorded cases, including 53 deaths.

The WHO’s Africa office reported that the outbreak in Boloko started after three children ate a bat and died within 48 hours with symptoms of hemorrhagic fever.

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There have long been concerns about diseases jumping from animals to humans in places where wild animals are commonly eaten. The number of such outbreaks in Africa has surged by more than 60% in the last decade, the WHO said in 2022.

After the second outbreak of the current mystery disease began in the town of Bomate on 9 February, samples from 13 cases were sent to the National Institute for Biomedical Research in Congo’s capital, Kinshasa, for testing, the WHO said.

All samples have tested negative for Ebola and other common hemorrhagic fever diseases like Marburg. Some tested positive for malaria.

Last year, another mystery flu-like illness that killed dozens of people in a different part of Congo was later determined to be likely malaria.

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With inputs from The Associated Press