LUBUMBASHI, Democratic Republic of Congo (Reuters) – An unknown disease killed 143 people in the southwestern province of the Democratic Republic of Congo in November, local authorities told Reuters.
The infected people had flu-like symptoms, including high fever and severe headaches, Remy Saki, deputy governor of Kwango province, and Apollinaire Yumba, provincial health minister, said Monday.
A medical team has been sent to the Panzi health zone to collect samples and carry out analysis in order to identify the disease.
The situation is extremely worrying as the number of infected people continues to rise, civil society leader Cephorien Manzanza told Reuters.
“Panzi is a rural health zone, so there is a problem with the supply of medicines,” said Manzanza.
The sick die in their own homes due to lack of treatment, Saki and Yumba said.
A local epidemiologist said women and children were the most severely affected by the disease.
A WHO spokesperson said Tuesday that the U.N. health agency had been alerted to the presence of the disease last week and was working alongside Congo’s Public Health Ministry to conduct further investigations.
(Reporting by Yassin Kombi; Additional reporting by Sonia Rolley; Writing by Anait Miridzhanian, editing by Ed Osmond)