The CDC is “prepared” amid a mystery disease outbreak in Africa.
There is growing concern about the situation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where dozens of people have died from a flu-like respiratory illness.
A CDC source told DailyMail.com they were “aware” of the outbreak and were in contact with health officials there “and were ready to provide additional support if necessary.”
The World Health Organization (WHO) has deployed a team to the southwestern province of Kwango, where the outbreak is reported, to collect samples and test for the virus.
DRC Health Minister Roger Kamba said his country is currently on “high alert” as they try to find out what is behind the “epidemic” that has killed up to 143 people.
Most of the patients were children in their late teens, officials said, who suffered from symptoms such as fever, headache, cough and difficulty breathing.
The symptoms suggest a respiratory virus and parallels are already being drawn with the early days of the Covid pandemic.
Hong Kong today became the first country to implement health checks for those arriving from the Democratic Republic of Congo and Africa, in an echo of measures taken to limit the spread of Covid.
Pictured above is a doctor talking to a patient about treating monkeypox in the South Kivu region in September this year.
A CDC source told DailyMail.com in a statement: ‘The CDC is aware of reports of an illness in southwestern Democratic Republic of the Congo.
“US government staff, including those at the US CDC national office in Kinshasa (the capital of the Democratic Republic of the Congo), are in contact with the Ministry of Health of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. of the Congo and is willing to provide additional support if necessary.
It was unclear how concerned the CDC was about the outbreak, or whether the agency plans to alert the country’s doctors.
Patients are currently being tested in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and authorities say they hope to have results before the end of the week.
There are no direct flights between the United States and Kinshasa, according to flight tracking websites, although passengers can still arrive via connecting flights.
This may include taking connecting flights in Johannesburg, South Africa, or Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
Authorities say it is taking days to establish the disease behind the outbreak because the cases are in a remote part of the country, where it took two days for the health team to reach.
It is unclear what illness could be causing the outbreak at this time, but officials say it could be a respiratory illness.
Experts who spoke to DailyMail.com said the symptoms were “non-specific” and needed more information.
Dr. Peter Hotez, pictured above, was speaking on MSNBC warning of the dangers posed
Dr. Annie Rimoin, an epidemiologist at the University of California, Los Angeles, who has worked in the Congo since 2002, said NBC News that diagnosing diseases can be complicated by underlying health problems in the local population, including malaria and malnutrition.
“I think it’s very important to be aware of what’s happening, and I think it’s also very important not to panic until we have more information,” he said.
“It could be anything,” he added. ‘It could be flu, it could be Ebola, it could be measles. At this point, we really don’t know.”
Dr. Krutika Kuppalli, an infectious disease expert and associate professor at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas, said at this point it was difficult to know what was causing the outbreak because only general symptoms had been reported.
“We need more information,” he told DailyMail.com, “the information that has currently been provided speaks of a number of diseases.”
When asked if it could be monkeypox or Ebola, he said: “In what they are reporting, we have not seen any reports of a rash or skin abnormality, which would be consistent with mpox.”
“Normally, with viral hemorrhagic fever (like Ebola), you hear reports of coughing up or vomiting blood, and that has not been reported either.”
He added: “The reports are worrying, but we need more data and information about the symptoms that are being seen on the ground.”
The map above shows the Democratic Republic of the Congo and highlights the Kwango province where the outbreak occurred.
The image above is a screenshot from today’s press conference in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. It shows Roger Kamba, who heads the country’s health department.
Authorities initially suggested that 143 people had died from the mysterious illness, although Authorities appear to have reduced that number to 71 deaths.
These include 27 people who died in hospital and 44 people who died in the community.
Of the people who died in hospital, 10 died from lack of blood transfusions and 17 from respiratory problems, the Health Minister said.
Most of the cases were children in their teens, aged between 15 and 18, according to the BBC.
Dr. Hotez, one of the leading advocates of lockdowns and mandatory mask-wearing during the Covid pandemic, warned that at least nine infectious diseases are currently spreading in the United States that could cause another pandemic, in a call for Trump administration not to cut funding for disease research.
Scientists are currently warning of a rise in cases of bird flu in animals spreading to humans, as well as a resurgence of measles and whooping cough linked to falling vaccination rates.
In an interview with MSNBC newsDr Hotez said: ‘This is why we should worry about these things. We have some big things coming up.
“All of that will come crashing down on January 21st on the Trump administration. “We need a really good team to be able to handle this.”