An unknown illness first discovered in three children who ate a bat has killed more than 50 people in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) over the past five weeks, according to health workers.
As of 16 February there have been 431 cases and 53 deaths in two outbreaks across remote villages in Équateur province, the World Health Organization (WHO) said in a bulletin.
“The outbreaks, which have seen cases rise rapidly within days, pose a significant public health threat. The exact cause remains unknown,” WHO spokesperson Tarik Jašarević told a briefing on Tuesday.
The villages have limited surveillance capacity and health infrastructure, he noted.
The larger outbreak, reported on 13 February from Bomate village in the Basankusu health zone, has killed 45 people out of 419 cases.
The interval between the onset of symptoms – which include fever, vomiting and internal bleeding – and death has been 48 hours in most cases and “that’s what’s really worrying,” said Serge Ngalebato, medical director of Bikoro Hospital, a regional monitoring center.
Samples from 13 cases have tested negative for Ebola and Marburg, but the WHO said health teams were locally investigating other potential causes, including malaria, food poisoning, typhoid, meningitis or other viral haemorrhagic fevers.
An earlier outbreak, involving eight deaths among 12 cases, was reported from Boloko village in the Bolomba health zone on 21 January, the WHO said.
This outbreak was traced back to three deaths among children under five years old in the village earlier that month. Symptoms including fever and fatigue progressed to haemorrhagic signs such as nosebleeds and vomiting blood.
Reports indicated that the children had eaten a dead bat before falling ill.
The other cases were found in Boloko and the nearby Dondo village, all with similar symptoms.
The WHO said no links have been established between the two clusters of cases.
“We are looking into whether it is another infection or whether it is some toxic agent. We have to see what can be done and at what point WHO can support,” said Jašarević, noting similar outbreaks in the past.
An outbreak of unknown cause reported in the DRC in December was ultimately identified as malaria.
