What we know about Congo illness that has sickened 400, killed 50
Unidentified illnesses in northwestern Congo have killed more than 50 people over the past five weeks, nearly half of them within hours after they felt sick.
The outbreaks in two distant villages in Congo's Equateur province began on Jan. 21 and include 419 cases and 53 deaths. Health officials still do not know the cause, or whether the cases in the two villages, which are separated by more than 190 kilometers (118 miles), are related. It's also unclear how the diseases are spreading, including whether they are spreading between people.
The first victims in one of the villages were children who ate a bat and died within 48 hours, the Africa office of the World Health Organization said this week. More infections were found in the other village, where at least some of the patients have malaria.
Outbreaks in two remote villages
Illnesses have been clustered in two remote villages in different health zones of Equateur province, which is 640 kilometers (398 miles) from Kinshasa.
The first outbreak began in the village of Boloko after three children ate a bat and died within 48 hours. More than two weeks later a second and larger outbreak was recorded in the village of Bomate, where more than 400 people have been sickened. According to WHO's Africa office, no links have been established between the cases in the two villages.
Dr. Serge Ngalebato, medical director of Bikoro Hospital, a regional monitoring center, and one of the government experts deployed to respond to the outbreak, says the situations in the two villages are somewhat different.
"The first one with a lot of deaths, that we continue to investigate because it's an unusual situation, (and) in the second episode that we're dealing with, we see a lot of the cases of malaria," said Ngalebato.
The WHO Africa office said the quick progression from sickness to death in Boloko is a key concern, along with the high number of deaths in Bomate.
What are the symptoms?
Congo's Ministry of Health said about 80% of the patients share similar symptoms including fever, chills, body aches and diarrhea.
While these symptoms can be caused by many common infections, health officials initially feared the symptoms and the quick deaths of some of the victims could also be a sign of a hemorrhagic fever such as Ebola, which was also linked to an infected animal.
However, Ebola and similar diseases including Marburg have been ruled out after more than a dozen samples were collected and tested in the capital of Kinshasa.
The WHO said it is investigating a number of possible causes, including malaria, viral hemorrhagic fever, food or water poisoning, typhoid fever and meningitis.
What is being done in response?
Congo's government says experts have been sent to the villages since Feb. 14, mainly to help investigate the cases and slow the spread.
Ngalebato said patients have been responding to treatments that target the different symptoms.
The remote location of the villages has hindered access to patients while the weak health care infrastructure has made it difficult to carry out surveillance and manage patients. Such challenges are common in disease outbreaks in Congo. In December, an unknown illness killed dozens.
In the latest outbreaks, several victims died before experts could even reach them, Ngalebato said.
There needs to be urgent action "to accelerate laboratory investigations, improve case management and isolation capacities, and strengthen surveillance and risk communication," the WHO Africa office has said.
The United States has been the largest bilateral donor to Congo's health sector and supported the training of hundreds of field epidemiologists to help detect and control diseases across the vast country. The outbreaks were detected as the Trump administration put a freeze on foreign aid during a 90-day review.
Is there a link to Congo's forests?
There have long been concerns about diseases jumping from animals to humans in places where people regularly eat wild animals. The number of such outbreaks in Africa has surged by more than 60% in the last decade, the WHO said in 2022.
Experts say this might be what is happening in Congo, which is home to about 60% of the forests in the Congo Basin, home to the largest expanse of tropical forest on Earth.
"All these viruses are viruses that have reservoirs in the forest. And so, as long as we have these forests, we will always have a few epidemics with viruses which will mutate," said Gabriel Nsakala, a professor of public health at Congo's National Pedagogical University, who previously worked at the Congolese health ministry on Ebola and coronavirus response programs.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Voice of America
11-03-2025
- Voice of America
Only seven countries met WHO air quality standards in 2024, data shows
Only seven countries met World Health Organization air quality standards last year, data showed on Tuesday, as researchers warned that the war on smog would only get harder after the United States shut down its global monitoring efforts. Chad and Bangladesh were the world's most polluted countries in 2024, with average smog levels more than 15 times higher than WHO guidelines, according to figures compiled by Swiss air quality monitoring firm IQAir. Only Australia, New Zealand, the Bahamas, Barbados, Grenada, Estonia and Iceland made the grade, IQAir said. Significant data gaps, especially in Asia and Africa, cloud the worldwide picture, and many developing countries have relied on air quality sensors mounted on U.S. embassy and consulate buildings to track their smog levels. However, the State Department has recently ended the scheme, citing budget constraints, with more than 17 years of data removed last week from the U.S. government's official air quality monitoring site, including readings collected in Chad. "Most countries have a few other data sources, but it's going to impact Africa significantly, because often times these are the only sources of publicly available real-time air quality monitoring data," said Christi Chester-Schroeder, IQAir's air quality science manager. Data concerns meant Chad was excluded from IQAir's 2023 list, but it was also ranked the most polluted country in 2022, plagued by Sahara dust as well as uncontrolled crop burning. Average concentrations of small, hazardous airborne particles known as PM2.5 hit 91.8 micrograms per cubic meter (mg/cu m) last year in the country, slightly higher than 2022. The WHO recommends levels of no more than 5 mg/cu m, a standard met by only 17% of cities last year. India, fifth in the smog rankings behind Chad, Bangladesh, Pakistan and the Democratic Republic of Congo, saw average PM2.5 fall 7% on the year to 50.6 mg/cu m. But it accounted for 12 of the top 20 most polluted cities, with Byrnihat, in a heavily industrialized part of the country's northeast, in first place, registering an average PM2.5 level of 128 mg/cu m. Climate change is playing an increasing role in driving up pollution, Chester-Schroeder warned, with higher temperatures causing fiercer and lengthier forest fires that swept through parts of Southeast Asia and South America. Christa Hasenkopf, director of the Clean Air Program at the University of Chicago's Energy Policy Institute (EPIC), said at least 34 countries will lose access to reliable pollution data after the U.S. program was closed. The State Department scheme improved air quality in the cities where the monitors were placed, boosting life expectancy and even reducing hazard allowances for U.S. diplomats, meaning that it paid for itself, Hasenkopf said. "(It) is a giant blow to air quality efforts worldwide," she said.
Voice of America
02-03-2025
- Voice of America
Uganda reports second Ebola death, a 4-year-old, WHO says
A second Ebola patient, a 4-year-old child, has died in Uganda, the World Health Organization said, citing the country's health ministry. The fatality brings the number of confirmed cases in Uganda to 10. The East African country declared an outbreak of the highly infectious and often fatal hemorrhagic disease in January after the death of a male nurse at the Mulago National Referral Hospital in the capital of Kampala. The WHO's Uganda office posted late on Saturday on X that the ministry had reported "an additional positive case in Mulago hospital of a 4 1/2-year-old child, who tragically passed away" on Tuesday. Mulago is the country's sole national referral hospital for Ebola cases. The ministry said on Feb. 18 that all eight Ebola patients under care had been discharged but that at least 265 contacts remained under strict quarantine in Kampala and two other cities. Ebola symptoms include fever, headache and muscle pains. The virus is transmitted through contact with infected bodily fluids and tissue.
Voice of America
26-02-2025
- Voice of America
How to Reduce Risks of Bad Air Quality
Air quality differs from place to place and day to day. But about 99 percent of the world's population breathes air at some point that does not meet pollution guidelines set by the World Health Organization (WHO). Different forms of air pollution kill about 7 million people each year, the U.N. health agency estimates. But health experts say there are some actions individuals can take to protect themselves, even in the world's most polluted cities. The first step is to start with the understanding that air is not only polluted when it looks smoky or smoggy, said Tanushree Ganguly. She is an air quality expert with the Energy Policy Institute of Chicago's India program. 'Blue skies can't guarantee you clean air,' Ganguly told The Associated Press. Pollutants and their sources Air pollutants often come from people burning things. Examples include fuels as well as clearing operations involving crops or trees. Pollutants can also be released from wildfires. Among the most dangerous particles we can breathe in are called particulate matter. The smallest of these are known as PM 2.5. This is because they are less than 2.5 microns in diameter. These particles can travel deep inside human lungs and are mostly created by burning fuels. Larger particles, known as PM 10, are linked to agriculture, roadways, mining or wind-blown dust. Other dangerous pollutants include gases like nitrogen dioxide or sulfur dioxide, which are also produced from burning fuels. This information comes from Anumita Roychowdhury, an air pollution expert at the Center for Science and Environment in New Delhi. Health effects The American-based Health Effects Institute says air pollution is the second-largest risk factor for early death worldwide, behind high blood pressure. Short-term exposure can cause asthma attacks and increase the risk of heart attacks and stroke, especially in older people and those with existing medical problems. Long-term exposure can cause serious heart and lung problems that can lead to death. A recent study by the U.N. children's agency UNICEF found that more than 500 million children in East Asia and Pacific countries breathe unhealthy air. The pollution is linked to the deaths of 100 children under age 5 every day. June Kunugi, UNICEF's Regional Director for East Asia, said the polluted air limits growth, harms lungs and affects thinking abilities. 'Every breath matters, but for too many children every breath can bring harm,' she said. How to tell if air is safe? Over 6,000 cities in 117 countries now record and follow air quality levels. Many mobile apps include air quality information as well. But it can be difficult to know how bad the air is by looking at these numbers. To help people better understand air quality levels, many countries have established an air quality index, or AQI. Larger numbers on this index mean worse air. Different countries have different air quality standards. For example, India's daily PM 2.5 limit is more than 1.5 times higher than in Thailand and 4 times higher than WHO standards. How can you protect yourself? For individuals, experts say the goal should be to limit exposure when air quality is bad, by staying indoors or wearing a mask. This is not always possible, though. Danny Djarum is with the World Resources Institute. He told the AP there are many people who live or work outside and 'can't really afford' to stay indoors. People also need to watch indoor air pollution that can be caused by common household activities like cooking or burning incense. What are the benefits — and limitations — of air purifiers? While air purifiers can help reduce indoor air pollution, experts say they do have limitations. The devices work by pulling air from a room and then pushing it through a filter that traps pollutants. The filtered air is then sent back into the room. Air purifiers work best when used in small spaces and when people are nearby. This is because they can only clean a certain amount of air, said Rajasekhar Balasubramanian of the National University of Singapore. He added, 'If we have a tiny air purifier in a large room, it won't be effective.' I'm John Russell. And I'm Caty Weaver. Aniruddha Ghosal reported on this story for the Associated Press. John Russell adapted it for VOA Learning English. _______________________________________________________ Words in This Story smog - n. a kind of air pollution that can consist of smoke, gases, chemicals, etc. factor - n. something that contributes to the production of a result expose – v. to subject to risk from a harmful condition asthma – n. a kind of a chronic lung disorder standard – n. something established by authority as a rule for the measure of quality afford – v. to be able to pay for incense – n. a kind of material used to produce a pleasant smell when burned filter – n. to pass a liquid or gas through a piece of equipment in order to remove solid pieces or other substances
