deaths in Cases of an as yet unknown disease continue to rise in the south-west of the Democratic Republic of Congo. So far, 71 deaths have been confirmed, of which 27 have been recorded in hospitals and 44 in communities in the southern province of Kwango. The World Health Organization (WHO) sent a team of experts to the area to collect samples and conduct laboratory tests to identify the pathogen responsible.
Jean Cassia, head of the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said at a press conference today that test results should be available later today or tomorrow. “The initial diagnosis makes us think it's a respiratory disease, but we have to wait for laboratory results.” Of the patients admitted to hospital, 17 were due to respiratory problems. Kasia stressed that many aspects are still unknown about the disease, including whether it is contagious and how it spreads. It is believed that about 380 cases have been identified so far, about half of which involve children under the age of 5.
People infected with the mysterious disease present with flu-like symptoms including cough, vomiting, “high fever and severe headache,” said Remy Saki, deputy governor of Kwango province, and Apollinaire Yumba, the DRC's provincial health minister. reutersare officers appeal to citizens Take precautions to avoid possible infection and avoid contact with dead bodies. However, the number of infected people continues to rise, as does the level of alert.
This area of the DRC is extremely fragile from a health perspective, with 40 percent of residents suffering from malnutrition and many having difficulty accessing medical care, with medicines in short supply. This new outbreak coincides with the DRC grappling with an epidemic of mpox, which the WHO declared a public health emergency of international concern in August.
This story was originally published on wired italia And it has been translated from Italian.