Dozens of people have died in southwestern Congo from a mysterious illness referred to as Disease X.
In the Democratic Republic of Congo, multiple cases of a flu-like illness known as “Disease X” have been reported, prompting the World Health Organization (WHO) to send a rapid response team to assist with the investigation.
More than 400 cases of the unidentified illness – characterized by fever, headache, cough, runny nose, and body aches – have been reported since late October in the Panzi health zone in southwestern Congo, the WHO stated on Sunday.
While more than half of the cases involve children under the age of five, it is suspected that a 50-year-old man hospitalized in Lucca, Italy, recovered from the illness after a business trip to Congo, according to Italian media.
Thirty-one deaths have been recorded, down from 79 reported last week, according to the WHO. The outbreak is concentrated in a remote rural area of the Kwango province, where poor road conditions and heavy rains mean it takes nearly 48 hours to reach the region from Kinshasa.
Access challenges have hindered efforts to confirm deaths linked to the illness. All severe cases involve individuals suffering from acute malnutrition, further complicating the identification of the infection source.
“These challenges, combined with limited diagnostic capabilities in the region, have delayed identification of the underlying cause,” the WHO stated.
“Teams are collecting samples for laboratory testing, providing detailed clinical characterizations of identified cases, investigating transmission dynamics, and actively searching for additional cases, both within healthcare facilities and at the community level.”
At least ten new suspected cases and one additional death were reported on December 6th, bringing the total number of infections in Panzi to 416. However, it was reported that the actual death toll may be significantly higher, as many patients are believed to have died outside of healthcare facilities.
