Health officials in Congo have raised alarms over an unidentified flu-like illness that has killed at least 71 people in the southern Kwango province. The deaths, which occurred between November 10 and 25 in the Panzi health zone, include 27 people who died in hospitals and 44 fatalities in the community.
Minister of Public Health Roger Kamba said it is still too early to determine the exact cause or transmission method of the disease. “It looks like a respiratory-type illness. I said it looks like. We only received the alert four or five days ago, so don’t think that in that time we can already identify the mode of transmission,” he told reporters.
Among the hospital deaths, 10 were linked to a lack of blood transfusions, while 17 others died from respiratory complications. The illness has affected about 380 people, nearly half of whom are children under the age of five. Symptoms reported include fever, headache, cough, and anemia.
Dr. Diedonne Mwamba, Director General of Congo’s National Institute of Public Health, said the region’s vulnerability—marked by high malnutrition rates and a history of typhoid outbreaks—complicates efforts to control the disease. “We are really on maximum alert. We need to confirm through diagnostics whether it is a respiratory infection,” he said.
The Panzi health zone, located about 435 miles (700 kilometers) from the capital, Kinshasa, poses logistical challenges for the investigation. Epidemiologists are in the region collecting samples to identify the disease’s cause, with results expected in the coming days, according to Jean Kaseya, head of the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Congo is also grappling with an ongoing mpox epidemic, with more than 47,000 suspected cases and over 1,000 deaths, further straining the country’s healthcare resources.
Health authorities are urging caution as investigations into the mystery illness continue.
