Mystery in the Congo: Is malaria really the only danger?

Mystery in the Congo: Is malaria really the only danger?

In the southwest of the Democratic Republic of Congo, the causes of a worrying wave of illness remain unclear. It has not yet been decided whether a mysterious “illness X” actually exists or whether the patients only suffer from known diseases such as malaria. The African health authority CDC Africa has explained that the first rehearsals from the affected area were in Panzi in poor condition, which made analysis difficult. CDC General Director Jean Kaseya emphasized that it was necessary to collect new rehearsals in order to better evaluate the situation, such as Volksblatt.at reported.

A multidisciplinary team is currently on the road to get additional samples from the difficult to access area. The connection between the capital Kinshasa and Panzi is bad, so that the journey takes over 700 kilometers three days. To date, 527 illnesses have been registered, including 225 children under the age of five. The high number of deaths is worrying: While the WHO speaks of 31 deaths, local authorities refer to over 130 deaths, such as tagenspiegel.de . Dieudonné Mwamba, director of the Institute for National Health in Kinshasa, has confirmed that some rehearsals have been tested in malaria. It is still uncertain whether the patients are only ill with malaria or an unknown disease. However, doctors without limits doubt that they are new pathogens and assume that they are mostly known causes.

In the past few weeks, flu -like symptoms have been observed among those affected, which underlines the urgency of the situation. The aid organizations and health authorities are under pressure to clarify the exact causes, while the population in the affected region is faced with the serious health consequences. The focus is now on winning new, high -quality samples as soon as possible in order to identify the cause of the disease and to develop appropriate measures.