An outbreak of a mysterious flu-like illness in a remote part of the Democratic Republic of Congo is a “major public health concern” as the country records more cases, the head of the African Union’s public health agency said.
Congo - an African country that is the size of the US states of Alaska and Texas combined - reported 147 new cases of "Disease X" in the past week, Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director General Jean Kaseya said on December 12.
More than 500 cases of the mysterious illness have been reported since late October, and Congolese authorities warned of the outbreak on December 1. Most of the cases are in children under the age of five, and the cases come at a time when influenza is on the rise. Dozens of people have died from the mysterious illness.
Confirming the pathogen of this mysterious disease has been difficult because the outbreak is so remote. The Panzi health district in southwestern Congo has no laboratory capable of adequately testing and diagnosing samples.
Health workers must transport samples to the capital Kinshasa – a two- to three-day road trip – which could compromise the quality of the samples. Officials are working to fly the samples for at least part of the journey.
Africa CDC expects new samples to arrive in Kinshasa next week, said Director General Jean Kaseya.
