Unknown Illness Kills Over 50 People in Congo Within Hours Between Symptoms and Death; Here's What Experts Speculate

More than 50 people have died of an unknown illness in northwestern Congo, according to doctors on the ground and the World Health Organization. The interval between the onset of symptoms and death has been 48 hours in the majority of cases, and "that’s what’s really worrying,” Serge Ngalebato, medical director of Bikoro Hospital, a regional monitoring centre, told The Associated Press.

The latest disease outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo began late last month, with up to 419 cases recorded to date along with 53 deaths.

According to the WHO's Africa office, the first outbreak in the town of Boloko began after three children ate a bat and died within 48 hours following hemorrhagic fever symptoms. For a long time now, there have been concerns about diseases jumping from animals to humans in places where wild animals are popularly eaten. The WHO says the number of such outbreaks in Africa has surged by more than 60 per cent in the last decade.

Officials said the second outbreak of the current mystery disease began in the town of Bomate earlier this month and samples from at least 13 cases have been sent to the National Institute for Biomedical Research in Congo's capital, Kinshasa, for testing.

While a few have tested positive for malaria, all were negative for Ebola or other common hemorrhagic fever diseases like Marburg, officials said. Last year, another mysterious flu-like virus that killed dozens of people in another part of Congo was determined to be likely malaria.

Experts say Marburg virus disease is a serious illness that sometimes causes outbreaks in African countries. Symptoms start out flu-like but can progress to severe vomiting, bleeding, and neurological (brain and nerve) issues. Outbreaks usually start by spreading from bats or primates to humans. From there, it can spread from human to human and cause outbreaks.

It is a viral hemorrhagic fever or a virus that damages blood vessels and causes bleeding. It’s part of the same family of viruses as Ebola.

Most of the hemorrhagic viruses, including Mar spread through contact with body fluids of infected humans or animals. Body fluids include:

You can also get it from surfaces, objects, or medical devices that are contaminated with the virus.

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