Latest news with #Mwamba
Russia Today
28-02-2025
- Health
- Russia Today
Mystery illness in DR Congo could be malaria
A disease outbreak in northwestern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DR Congo) has killed at least 50 people and affected around 1,000, Reuters reported on Thursday, citing a local official. Health officials suspect malaria or food poisoning as the cause of the illness, which has been reported in Equateur province. Dieudonne Mwamba, the director general of the National Institute of Public Health, told the news agency that 52 deaths and 943 infections have been recorded in Equateur so far. The World Health Organization (WHO), in a separate statement, reported 1,096 suspected cases and 60 deaths. Patients have shown symptoms including fever, vomiting, weight loss, and fatigue. 'For now, our diagnosis is malaria, and we also suspect food poisoning,' Mwamba stated. He explained that affected children had consumed bushmeat, which could be linked to the outbreak. Doctors have ruled out known viruses such as Ebola, Marburg, yellow fever, and dengue after testing more than a dozen samples. The WHO said additional tests are being conducted to determine if other diseases, including typhoid fever, meningitis, or viral hemorrhagic fevers, could be responsible. Medical director Serge Ngalebato of Bikoro Hospital, a key monitoring center in the region, told AP that the most alarming aspect of the outbreak is the rapid progression of symptoms. The interval between the onset of symptoms and death has been 48 hours in most cases, and 'that's what's really worrying,' he said. The DR Congo has been identified as the epicenter of a severe outbreak of the Mpox virus, formerly known as monkeypox, with over 2,000 new suspected cases weekly, according to the WHO. In December, the former Belgian colony's Health Ministry identified a previously unknown disease that had spread in the southwestern Kwango province as a severe form of malaria. The illness, which causes fever, headache, coughing, runny nose, and body ache, claimed 143 lives in November.
Reuters
27-02-2025
- Health
- Reuters
Deadly illness in Congo may be malaria, health officials say
KINSHASA, Feb 27 (Reuters) - A condition that has killed at least 50 people in northwest Democratic Republic of Congo this month is suspected to be malaria or food poisoning, local health officials said on Thursday. At least 943 people have also fallen sick and 52 died in Equateur province, with symptoms ranging from fever and fatigue to vomiting and weight loss, Dieudonne Mwamba, director general of the National Institute of Public Health, said. The World Health Organization said in a statement it had identified 1,096 cases and 60 deaths fitting the definition of the illness. "For now, our diagnosis is malaria, and we also suspect food poisoning," Mwamba told Reuters. "It's not an unknown and mysterious disease. It's a phenomenon involving children who consumed bushmeat." The WHO said in a bulletin on February 16 it has received reports indicating that children had consumed a bat carcass before the onset of symptoms. A dozen samples tested negative for viral hemorrhagic fever, while 78% of the samples tested positive for malaria, Mwamba said. "There are five villages that are affected ... The diagnostic is more pointing toward malaria," Ngashi Ngongo from the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) said in a press briefing via video link. The World Health Organization said it was stepping up surveillance and will work with local health authorities to conduct further investigations. An outbreak of disease in December, initially of unknown cause, was ultimately identified as malaria. Keep up with the latest medical breakthroughs and healthcare trends with the Reuters Health Rounds newsletter. Sign up here.
