Unknown disease kills 143 in southwest Congo, local authorities say

**harrybarracuda** · 04-12-2024, 01:45 AM

LUBUMBASHI, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Dec 3 (Reuters) - An unknown disease killed 143 people in Democratic Republic of the Congo's southwestern province in November, local authorities told Reuters.

Infected people had flu-like symptoms, including high fever and severe headaches, Remy Saki, deputy governor of Kwango province, and Apollinaire Yumba, provincial minister of health, said on Monday.

A medical team has been sent to the Panzi health zone to collect samples and carry out an 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," Manzanza said.

Sick people die in their own homes for lack of treatment, Saki and Yumba said.

A local epidemiologist said women and children were the most seriously affected by the disease.

A WHO spokesperson said on Tuesday the UN health agency had been alerted to the presence of the disease last week, and it was working alongside Congo's public health ministry to make further investigations.

reuters.com

**Bonecollector** · 04-12-2024, 05:38 AM

The Congo is teaming with viruses, read The Virus Hunters.

I would add that one of the most intriguing bits of knowledge from the book is that most of the time these viruses do not make it to the cities because it takes so long to walk from the villages and usually by that time they are too sick. If you built a high speed train from all these villages to Kinshasa, we'd be in a pickle. A sort of socio economic/ natural defense if you will.

**harrybarracuda** · 06-12-2024, 02:52 PM

I sincerely hope this thread doesn't reach 660,000 views.

No doubt the Thais are already panicking, er I mean considering their response.

Time to buy sheep dewormer stocks.

Hong Kong authorities have stepped up health screening measures for all flights arriving from African transit hubs as they brace for risks of an unidentified disease that killed at least 79 in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

The Centre for Health Protection said on Thursday it had sought information about the outbreak from the World Health Organization, the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, and Congolese health authorities.

According to health authorities in the central African country, the unknown disease has resulted in 79 deaths and more than 300 infections since late October.

Patients, most of whom were over the age of 15, experienced symptoms including fever, headache, runny nose, cough, breathing difficulties and anaemia.

The centre said the local government had received no reports of people or travellers arriving in Hong Kong from the country with unknown diseases.

While there are no direct flights between Congo and Hong Kong, travellers from the country typically reach the city through African transit hubs, particularly Johannesburg in South Africa and Addis Ababa in Ethiopia.

“As a precautionary measure, [the centre has] immediately stepped up health screenings at the airport for passengers on all flights arriving in Hong Kong from the transit hubs.”

According to the centre, travellers will undergo temperature checks, with health personnel conducting medical assessments for those with symptoms and referring suspected cases to hospitals for examination.

Hong Kong tightens airport health checks amid Congo mystery disease outbreak | South China Morning Post

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