Disease X: DRC puzzled by new outbreak, health system under strain
Map showing Panzi, Kwango Province in DR Congo. Nation Media Group
What you need to know:
- The disease, which broke out at the end of October, has infected some 400 people and is straining health authorities pummelled with Mpox and Ebola outbreaks in the recent past.
Kwango Province in the south-west of the Democratic Republic of Congo is facing a disease of unknown origin that has already killed 143 people.
The disease, which broke out at the end of October, has infected some 400 people and is straining health authorities pummelled with Mpox and Ebola outbreaks in the recent past.
The Congolese government has said it is monitoring the situation and announced the deployment of a “a rapid intervention team”, including epidemiologists, a provincial doctor, a laboratory technician and experts.
But the World Health Organisation (WHO) has expressed concern about the remoteness of the affected Panzi area, logistical obstacles and the lack of security where the disease is rife.
The symptoms of the disease include coughing, headache, fever, aches and a runny nose, and are similar to those of severe seasonal flu. The Ministry of Health has so far ruled out Covid-19.
The WHO warned that the risk to affected communities was “high.”
“Given the clinical presentation and symptoms reported, as well as the number of associated deaths, acute pneumonia, influenza, Covid-19, measles and malaria are considered potential causal factors, with malnutrition being a contributing factor.
“Malaria is a common disease in this region and could be at the origin of these cases or contribute to them,” the WHO said.
The affected region is rural and isolated, with access made even more difficult by the rainy season.
The unknown disease affects Kwango, which is experiencing a community dispute that morphed into an armed conflict between the Mobondo militia and the DRC's armed forces.
The Congolese Health Minister, Dr Samuel Roger Kamba, stated that “this health zone is particularly vulnerable, having already been weakened by a typhoid fever epidemic two years ago.”
“The supply of medicines is also a recurring problem. In addition, child malnutrition is alarming: 61 children have been identified as malnourished, and around 40 percent of children are currently affected by this unknown disease.”
The results of the analysis of the samples have not yet been published. And experts have labelled the disease as ‘X’.
Meanwhile, a team from the Ministry of Health is preparing to step up action on the ground. But they say a clear strategy to combat the disease will be known once the pathogens have been isolated and the disease properly named. This may include the preventive measures for the public and public health decisions such as lockdowns or vaccinations.
Dr Kamba stressed the need to remain on high alert and to take rapid action to bring the situation under control. He also said that symptom mapping was underway to help identify the precise nature of the disease.
The minister said that laboratory tests were underway to determine the exact cause of the disease.
“At this stage, it is also possible that several diseases are contributing to the cases and deaths,” said the WHO, adding that rapid response teams have been deployed to identify the cause of the epidemic and strengthen the response.
“The teams are collecting samples for laboratory testing, providing a more detailed clinical characterisation of detected cases, investigating transmission dynamics and actively searching for other cases, both in health facilities and at community level,” the WHO said.
