Malaria Appears to Be Cause of 70+ Recent Deaths in Congo

December 20, 2024 Hour: 6:19 pm

The samples were not of very good quality, thus further investigations will be carried out to determine if it is an epidemic.

Authorities have linked the mysterious flu-like illness that has recently killed dozens of people in southwestern Congo to malaria.

According to the results of laboratory samples from infected persons, “of the 12 samples taken, nine tested positive for malaria,” and most of the victims were children under 14 years old.

However, Dr. Jean-Jacques Muyembe, director general of the National Institute for Biomedical Research in Kinshasa, told the press that the samples were not of very good quality and that further investigation will be carried out to determine whether it is an epidemic.

The head of the World Health Organization (WHO), Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said that 416 cases of the mysterious disease had been reported in recent weeks.

In just one week, the mystery disease in the #DRC has claimed five more lives, raising the total to 81 (37 reported in health facilities and 44 in the community) out of 592 cases. It is the alarming death toll that brought attention to the #disease. Patients typically present… pic.twitter.com/zwnM3JTngI
— Africa CDC (@AfricaCDC) December 20, 2024

As for the deaths, he said 31 had been reported in hospitals, while 44 others died in the remote health zone of Panzi, in the western Congolese province of Kwango.

Agreeing with Dr. Jean-Jacques Muyembe, Tedros added that although most of the samples have tested positive for malaria, more samples will be collected and analyzed to investigate the possibility that more than one disease is involved.

The Panzi health zone, which is difficult to access, has high levels of malnutrition and low vaccination coverage, leaving the population exposed to a range of diseases. So far those affected have presented symptoms such as fever, headache, cough, and anemia.