New Delhi, Dec 9 (IANS) The World Health Organization (WHO) said that 406 cases of an unknown disease have been registered in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) between October 24 and December 5. There is news of 31 people being killed.
Congo’s Ministry of Public Health warned WHO on 29 November about an increase in the number of deaths from unknown causes in the Panzi health region.
The global health agency has sent experts to investigate the outbreak of the unknown disease in the Panzi health region of Kwango province in the Republic of Congo, where people are showing symptoms such as fever, headache, cough, runny nose and body aches.
“All serious cases reported severe malnutrition,” WHO said.
The agency said 31 deaths have been recorded in this case. 71 percent of these victims are below 15 years of age.
WHO noted that most of the reported cases are in children under five years of age.
“The area is rural and remote,” WHO said. Reaching here has become even more difficult due to the rainy season and floods.
While the outbreak is still ongoing, WHO has sent teams to collect samples for laboratory testing. Only the results can accurately confirm this outbreak. The teams are also investigating how fast this infection is spreading.
“Rapid response teams have been deployed to identify the cause of the outbreak and strengthen the response,” WHO said.
The World Health Organization (WHO) suspects that pneumonia, influenza, COVID-19, measles and malaria are possible causes, while malnutrition is also a major cause.
“Laboratory tests are underway to determine the exact cause,” the UN agency said, adding that there could be a risk of death from more than one disease.
–IANS
MKS/GKT
