WHO Reveals Mysterious Disease In Congo, Starting From Eating Bats

Bat illustration (Photo: Freepik/byrdyak)

JAKARTA - An unknown disease has killed more than 50 people in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) in the past 5 weeks. This disease was first discovered in three children who fell ill after eating bats.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), as of February 16, there have been 431 cases and 53 deaths in two outbreaks that occurred in remote villages in the province of Badminton.

The number of cases is increasing rapidly in just a matter of days, thus becoming a serious threat to public health. However, the cause is still unknown, "said a WHO spokesman, Pull Jahararevi Badminton, on Tuesday, quoted from The Guardian's website.

He also highlighted that affected villages have minimal health facilities and limited disease surveillance. The largest outbreak was reported on February 13 in Bomate village, Basakusu health zone, with 45 deaths out of 419 cases.

Most patients died within 48 hours of experiencing symptoms such as fever, vomiting, and internal bleeding.

"This is very worrying," said Serge Ngalebato, medical director of the Bikoro hospital, the disease monitoring center in the region.

Samples of 13 patients have been tested and the results are negative for Ebola and Marburg. The WHO stated that the local medical team was looking for other causes, including malaria, food poisoning, tifus, meningitis, or other types of dengue fever.

Another smaller outbreak occurred in Bolgolo village, Bolomba health zone, with 12 cases and 8 deaths since January 21.

The investigation shows that this outbreak originated in three children under five who died in the village in early January. They experience fever and fatigue which then develops into bleeding such as bleeding and vomiting blood.

Reports say these children had eaten dead bats before falling ill. Similar cases were also found in the nearby villages of Boloko and Dondo. WHO has not found a connection between these two outbreaks.

"We are still investigating whether this is another infection or due to exposure to toxic substances. WHO will determine the next step to help." said Jaruarevi.

Last December, DRC also experienced an unknown disease outbreak that was eventually identified as malaria.