Meningitis In Congo Craze Has Killed 129 People, WHO Moves To Send Medicine And Experts

JAKARTA - A meningitis outbreak in Tshopo province, northeast of the Democratic Republic of Congo, has killed 129 of the 267 people infected since the first case was discovered in June.

Health Minister Jean-Jacques Mbungani, quoted by Reuters via Antara, said his agency had conducted an investigation in early June near Panga, about 270 kilometers north of the town of Kisangani.

Meningitis patients experience symptoms of fever, headache, stiff neck, and difficulty speaking.

Tests carried out by the Pasteur Institute in Paris detected one of the most common types of bacteria, Neisseria meningitidis, which has the potential to cause a major outbreak, the World Health Organization (WHO) said.

Meningitis is transmitted by kissing, sneezing, or coughing on someone, or living in close proximity to an infected person. People of any age can catch meningitis, but the disease mainly affects infants, children and adolescents.

"We are moving fast, delivering medicine and deploying experts to support the government's efforts to control the outbreak in the shortest possible time," said WHO Africa Regional Director Matshidiso Moeti.

The province of Tshopo lies in the meningitis belt of Africa, which stretches across the continent from Senegal to Ethiopia.

Congo has been hit by a number of outbreaks in the past, including an outbreak in 2009 that infected 214 people and caused 15 deaths, according to the WHO.

In addition to years of armed conflict, corruption and underfunding, Congo's health system has in the past four years battled four outbreaks of Ebola, endemic cholera and measles, the bubonic plague and the COVID-19 pandemic.