The World Health Organization (W.H.O.) said on Friday that a mysterious illness in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has spread to another village, adding 141 more confirmed cases and bringing the death toll to 60.
The new cluster of infections was reported in the Basankusu health zone, which is about 40 miles from the initial outbreak area. All of the cases so far have occurred within the DRC’s Equateur province, which is about the size of Kentucky and straddles the Congo River.
The outbreak began on January 21 with the death of three young children who reportedly ate the carcass of a bat, then fell ill with a fast-moving haemorrhagic fever. Tests performed on the victims ruled out known diseases like Ebola, the Marburg virus, and yellow fever.
W.H.O. said on Thursday that “increased disease surveillance has identified a total of 1096 sick people” who display symptoms including “fever, headache, chills, sweating, stiff neck, muscle aches, multiple joint pain and body aches, a runny or bleeding from nose, cough, vomiting and diarrhoea.”
“Experts are stepping up disease surveillance, conducting interviews with community members to understand the background, and providing treatment for diseases such as malaria, typhoid fever and meningitis,” the U.N. health agency said.
W.H.O. noted that about half of the samples taken from victims have “tested positive for malaria, which is common in the region.”
It seems possible that the Congo illness could be exacerbated by malaria, meningitis, or food poisoning in the systems of the victims. W.H.O. said its investigators are looking for “unusual patterns” that might explain the virulence and lethality of the disease.
W.H.O. said the “remoteness” of the outbreak areas, along with “poor road and telecommunications infrastructure,” limit the access of residents to testing and treatment.
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