Congo says the mystery disease behind the deaths of dozens of women and children has finally been identified as severe malaria

Johannesburg – For weeks it was simply called “Disease X.” but A mysterious flu-like illness The pandemic that has claimed the lives of more than 143 people – most of them women and young children – has finally been identified in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

“The mystery has finally been solved,” Congo’s Ministry of Health announced in a statement on Tuesday. “It is a case of severe malaria in the form of a respiratory disease.”

The health agency said malnutrition in the worst-hit area had weakened the immunity of local residents, making them more vulnerable to the disease. People who become infected with malaria develop symptoms including headache, fever, cough, and body aches.

Congo’s health minister told reporters the country was on “high alert” over the spread of the previously unidentified disease, and health officials told CBS News in early December that the remoteness of the outbreak’s epicenter and the lack of a diagnosis make it difficult. To launch a coordinated response.

At least 592 cases were reported after the Congolese Ministry of Health first raised the state of alert on October 29. The ministry said that the death rate from the disease is 6.25%. More than half of the recorded deaths were of children under the age of five, and they were suffering from severe malnutrition when they contracted the disease, according to the World Health Organization.

At a press conference on December 10, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said that 10 out of 12 samples from patients suffering from the mysterious disease had tested positive for malaria, but he said they were still testing at that time for other diseases.

The Congolese government sent a rapid intervention team to Kwangju province, 435 miles southeast of the capital, Kinshasa, consisting of epidemiologists and other medical experts. Their goal was to identify the disease and mount an appropriate response. Government officials had earlier warned local residents to avoid touching people infected with the disease or the bodies of the deceased.

Congo has suffered from several outbreaks of diseases in recent years, including typhoid, malaria and anemia. The country has also grappled with mpox outbreakWith more than 47,000 suspected cases and more than 1,000 suspected deaths from the disease, according to the World Health Organization.

Antimalarial drugs provided by the World Health Organization are being distributed to local health centers in Congo, and WHO officials said more medical supplies were scheduled to arrive in the country on Wednesday.

It’s the rainy season in Congo, which often sees a rise in malaria cases, and is sure to complicate treatment for those most at risk.