Mysterious illness kills 15 people in the Democratic Republic of the Congo

What is happening in the Democratic Republic of the Congo? As the world faces the COVID-19 pandemic, the Kasongo-Lunda territory, in the western part of the country, is experiencing a new disease whose origin remains a mystery for the time being. According to AFP, citing an official source, fifteen people died last February, all between 60 and 80 years old.

Jean-Marie Peti-Peti, governor of Kwango province, detailed to reporters on site:

The patient begins by having headaches, then pain everywhere, fever, then respiratory complications.

COVID-19 tests negative

The symptoms are relatively close to COVID-19. And yet those infected have tested negative for the disease, reports local independent media outlet Radio Okapi. Samples were taken for analysis by the National Institute for Biomedical Research (INRB), located in the capital Kinshasa.

Other ongoing epidemics

Nearly 26,000 people have been infected with SARS-Cov-2 and more than 700 have died across the country, according to figures from the World Health Organization. The DRC will soon receive its first doses of vaccines. And this is unfortunately not the only epidemic the country is facing. The terrible disease Chikungunya was also noted in the same territory of Kasongo-Lunda. Also, in the east of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, there has been the reappearance of the Ebola virus disease since February 7, reports RFI.