The World Health Organization reports that a deadly “unknown disease” exists in a region of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Local health officials in Congo are working with the World Health Organization to investigate.
Photo: Harold Cunningham/Getty Images
The phrase “unknown disease” mainly means that the disease has not been found.
In previous cases, these cases were associated with known diseases, but the lack of available tests could lead to a lack of certainty.
For example, in December in Congo, there was a report on “unknown diseases” that was later attributed to malaria and respiratory diseases.
More: Undiagnosed diseases in Congo may be linked to malaria: African CDC
The latest figures from the WHO African region show that there have been 431 cases and 53 deaths related to the epidemic since January.
Photo: In this stock photo, a bird’s-eye view of handmade gold miners near Monbuvalu, Democratic Republic of the Congo can be seen. (Stock Photos/Getty Image)
Early investigations trace the origin of the outbreak to three children, all under the age of 5, who developed symptoms after eating bat carcasses.
Symptoms include fever, headache, diarrhea and fatigue – which later develop into signs associated with hemorrhagic fever and death.
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Officials said Ebola and Marburg had been excluded. Nearly half of the deaths occurred within 48 hours after the onset of symptoms.
“The distant location and weak medical infrastructure increase the risk of further transmission,” the World Health Organization noted in its report.
More than 50 deaths related to “unknown diseases” in Congo initially appeared on abcnews.go.com.
