WHO probes mystery illness cluster in western DR Congo

The World Health Organization said Thursday its experts were investigating a new, unidentified cluster of illness in the DR Congo after two previous mystery outbreaks earlier this year.

The WHO said the Bolamba zone in the western province of Equateur reported 12 people who fell ill, including eight deaths, in January.

Earlier this month, 158 cases and 58 deaths were reported in the Basankusu zone.

And last week, 141 people fell ill in Basankusu zone. No deaths have been reported so far.

“Increased disease surveillance has identified a total of 1,096 sick people and 60 deaths in Basankusu and Bolomba fitting a broad case definition,” the UN health agency added.

The definition includes “fever, headache, chills, sweating, stiff neck, muscle aches, multiple joint pain and body aches, a runny or bleeding from nose, cough, vomiting and diarrhoea.

“The Democratic Republic of the Congo is facing many concurrent crises and outbreaks, putting a further strain on the health sector and the population,” the WHO added.

A national rapid response team, including WHO health emergency experts, has been deployed in the field to investigate the situation and determine if there is an unusual pattern, the organisation said.

They are conducting interviews, disease surveillance and treating diseases such as malaria, typhoid fever and meningitis.

Initial laboratory tests have proven negative for Ebola virus disease and Marburg virus disease. Around half of the samples tested positive for malaria. Further tests are to be carried out for meningitis, said the WHO.

Food, water and environmental samples will also be studied for contamination.

“This outbreak, as well as previous outbreaks in the DRC are of significance to the rest of the world and we need to keep a close eye and assist with diagnosis and treatment,” said Zania Stamataki, associate professor in viral immunology at the University of Birmingham in Britain.

Amanda Rojek, senior clinical fellow at Oxford University’s Pandemic Sciences Institute said that while one disease might explain all cases, “we frequently see situations where there might be a mixture of more common illnesses contributing to case numbers”.

An initially unexplained spate of deaths in southwestern DRC in October-November last year was eventually put down to malaria and common respiratory infections, compounded by malnutrition.

The DRC is one of the world’s poorest countries.