Mystery disease death toll rises and cases soar above 1000 as WHO suggests potential cause from ‘water source’
AT least 60 people have died in northwestern Congo, and health officials fear the deaths may be linked to brain swelling meningitis from dirty water.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) said Friday it’s too early to draw conclusions – but the possibility of poisoning is being investigated.
Dr Michael Ryan, WHO’s emergencies chief, pointed to a “very strong level of suspicion” that a water source in one of the affected villages may have been poisoned.
It “appears very much more like a toxic type event, either from a biologic perspective like meningitis or from chemical exposure,” he said during a scheduled online news conference focused on flu prevention.
The expert did not specify if the contamination was accidental, negligent, or intentional, nor did he name the village.
“We will not stop investigating until we are sure that the true cause or the absolute cause of what is occurring here is fully investigated,” Dr Ryan added.
The outbreak has infected over 1,000 people across five villages in the Democratic Republic of the Congo’s (DCR’s) Equateur province.
While hundreds of cases have tested positive for malaria, patients are also presenting unusual symptoms like stiff necks, bleeding noses, vomiting, and diarrhoea.
The WHO’s Africa office said earlier this week that the first outbreak was among several children who ate a bat and then died within 48 hours after experiencing hemorrhagic fever symptoms, similar to those caused by the Ebola or Marburg viruses.
The crisis began in January in the village of Boloko, where three children died after eating a bat, sparking fears that the disease could spread.
Boloko has since seen 12 cases and eight deaths, though no new cases have been reported since January.
Bomate, about 200 km from Boloko, has borne the brunt of the outbreak, with 98 per cent of the cases and 86 per cent of the deaths.
The remote locations of the affected villages have made it difficult for medical teams to access the sick, and some people died before help could arrive.
“Clearly, at the centre of this, we have some kind of poisoning event,” Dr Ryan said, adding that the investigation could also explore other toxic sources, such as meningitis or chemical exposure.
“We will leave no stone unturned until we know the true cause.”
‘Watch for symptoms in the UK’
Brits have been urged to look out for symptoms of the disease, after Dr Zania Stamataki, a virologist from the University of Birmingham, has warned that cases could begin to crop up elsewhere.
She said: “Infections know no borders and do not respect country lines.
“People travel and infections travel with them, either hitching a ride in a person or in animal carriers, so one cannot exclude spread outside of a country’s borders.
What are the symptoms?
Congo's Ministry of Health said about 80 per cent of the patients share similar symptoms including fever, chills, body aches and diarrhoea.
While these symptoms can be caused by many common infections, health officials initially feared the symptoms and the quick deaths of some of the victims could also be a sign of a hemorrhagic fever such as Ebola, which was also linked to an infected animal.
However, Ebola and similar diseases including Marburg have been ruled out after more than a dozen samples were collected and tested in the capital of Kinshasa.
The WHO said it is investigating a number of possible causes, including malaria, viral hemorrhagic fever, food or water poisoning, typhoid fever and meningitis.
“In the UK and in other countries we need to remain vigilant and watch for symptoms.
“Symptoms of a haemorrhagic fever-type disease should be reported to the UK Health Security Agency via a registered medical practitioner.”
A similar mystery outbreak in the DCR late last year eventually turned out to be severe malaria.
That outbreak left around 500 people ill and killed at least 149 as it spread in Panzi, Kwango, a remote part of the DRC.