The World Health Organisation (WHO) has deployed a rapid response team to the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) to help investigate a mysterious illness dubbed “Disease X” that has infected over 400 people in the central African country since late October.
As more cases of the unidentified flu-like disease — marked by fever, headache, cough, runny nose, and body aches — are reported on a daily bases, the WHO has dispatched an expert team to help Congolese health officials in their efforts to identify the cause of the outbreak and treat cases. Last week, a senior official from the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) urged caution as DRC’s health minister said on Thursday (5 December) his government was “on general alert” over a mystery flu-like disease that had killed dozens of people in recent weeks, about half of whom were children.
While the cause of the outbreak of the illnesses is still unknown, the WHO released a statement on Sunday (8 December) suggested that one or more known diseases — malaria, pneumonia, influenza, Covid-19, or measles — exacerbated by severe malnutrition may be behind the outbreak and the high number of deaths attributed to it. “The area experienced deterioration in food insecurity in recent months, has low vaccination coverage and very limited access to diagnostics and quality case management,” the Geneva-based global health agency said. Health experts have called the development “extremely worrying” and noted that the death toll is rising quickly — from just 67 recorded deaths on 25 November to 150 people who succumbed to the mysterious disease a week later.