Mysterious disease already caused 130 deaths in teenagers
Health workers are at a loss in the Democratic Republic of Congo as 131 people have already died in recent weeks from a disease that could not yet be identified. In addition, 382 people there have disease symptoms. So reports Apollinaire Yumba, the health minister of the Congolese province of Kwango.
The outbreak of this mysterious disease appears to have happened on 24 October in southwest Congo.
It is a disease with flu-like symptoms including fever, headache, breathing problems and anaemia. Most of the patients who die are between 15 and 18 years old. The health ministry specified this earlier this week.
It appears to be a type of respiratory disease, but much is not yet known. Whether it is contagious and how it is transmitted have yet to be found out.
Samples from sick people are now being examined in laboratories. Those results should come in within the next 48 hours. Consequently, the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will hopefully soon be able to provide more details about the disease.
(FVDV for Tagtik/Source: Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention/Illustration picture: Unsplash)