A mysterious disease with Ebola-like symptoms has emerged in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). The outbreak was first detected on January 21 and over the past five weeks, hundreds have been infected and more than 50 people have died in the northwest region.
Health officials are still investigating the cause of the disease, which began in the village of Boloko. Initial investigations suggest that three children who ate a bat carcass may have been infected before dying within days. The symptoms match those caused by viruses such as Ebola and Marburg, but experts have ruled out these pathogens after testing more than a dozen samples.
A second cluster of cases was recorded in the village of Bomate, several hundred kilometers away, without any known link to the initial outbreak. As of February 15, a total of 431 suspected infections had been reported, including 53 deaths. The interval between symptoms and death was often just 48 hours.
Tests at the National Institute for Biomedical Research have come back negative for common pathogens linked to hemorrhagic fever, but some tested positive for malaria. WHO officials are concerned about a severe infectious or toxic agent causing the outbreak.
This is not an isolated incident, as disease outbreaks caused by animal-borne pathogens (zoonotic spillover) are becoming more common in Africa. Changing land use and climate change are driving factors, increasing contact between humans and wildlife that harbor pathogens. The WHO reports a 63% increase in such outbreaks on the continent since 2012.
A similar outbreak occurred in the southwest of the DRC last year, which was later attributed to respiratory infections aggravated by malaria.
Source: https://www.wired.com/story/a-deadly-unidentified-disease-has-emerged-in-the-drc-ebola-marburg