Viral infections can take a fatal turn when left untreated. A ‘Disease X’ has alerted health official at the World Health Organisation (WHO). Since last October, a mysterious illness has grappled that
Viral infections can take a fatal turn when left untreated. A ‘Disease X’ has alerted health official at the World Health Organisation (WHO). Since last October, a mysterious illness has grappled that state of Democratic Republic of Congo. Reportedly, it has claimed at least 79 cases yet with hundreds of people affected.
“First diagnostics are leading us to think it is a respiratory disease,” Jean Kaseya, head of Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said. “But we need to wait for the laboratory results.” He added that there are many things that are still unknown about the disease — including whether it is infectious and how it is transmitted.
All About Disease X, Mysterious Flu
Research is still going on about the symptoms, prevention and cure, there are certain common signs that the infected people have shown so far.
Disease X symptoms
- Fever
- Headache
- Cough
- Anemia
- Vomiting
As #DRC 🇨🇩intensifies efforts to determine the cause of an undiagnosed disease reported in #Panzi, @WHO is deploying more experts to join the national response team comprising epidemiologists, clinicians, laboratory technicians and infection prevention and control & risk… pic.twitter.com/iEUbJujI5m
— WHO African Region (@WHOAFRO) December 6, 2024
Authorities in Congo have so far confirmed 71 deaths, including 27 people who died in hospitals and 44 in the community in the southern province of Kwango, Health Minister Roger Kamba said Thursday.
It took the epidemiological experts two days to get there, Congo’s health minister said. Because of the lack of testing capacity, samples had to be taken to Kikwit, more than 500 kilometers away, said Dieudonné Mwamba, the head of the National Institute for Public Health.
Currently, WHO is deploying experts to support health authorities in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) with investigations to determine the cause of a yet undiagnosed disease that has been reported in Panzi.
The deaths were recorded between Nov. 10 and Nov. 25 in the Panzi health zone of Kwango province. There were around 380 cases, almost half of which were children under the age of 5, according to the minister.