A mysterious disease outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo has infected more than 400 people and killed more than 30, most of them children, according to the World Health Organization.
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told a briefing on Tuesday that the agency was informed just two weeks ago of the outbreak centered in the country’s remote Kwango province in central Africa.
So far, symptoms of the flu-like illness include headache, cough, fever, difficulty breathing and anemia.
Ghebreyesus said 10 of the first 12 samples taken from the victims tested positive for malaria, suggesting the patients may have been suffering from multiple diseases at once. . All of the people who fell seriously ill with the mysterious illness also suffered from severe malnutrition, which weakened their immune systems.
