The mysterious disease that has spread through the Democratic Republic of the Congo in Africa has claimed dozens of lives since it was first detected last month
A mysterious new virus – dubbed “Disease X – with horrendous symptoms continues to claim more victims amid concerns of a new pandemic.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) raised the alarm following an outbreak of a mysterious disease in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) in October. Despite the spread, it took little over a month for the disease to be recognised as a serious threat.
WHO officials recorded 416 patients and 31 deaths by within the first week of December. There were also many case of malnourished children.
Symptoms of the disease resemble the flue “with respiratory distress for some children and for some people who have died,” DRC health minister Samuel Roger Kamba said. The WHO has take some tests in the region that have tested positive for malaria, although it believes the true cause is unknown.
“Is it a severe seasonal flu with people on the table who are fragile because of malnutrition, because of anaemia, because of other diseases? Or is it another germ? We will know with the results,” Minister Kamba added, according to News.com.au.
While the cause of the virus is unknown, some experts are cautious about what it could be. University of East Anglia epidemiologist Paul Hunter told the Aussie outlet: “Reports of outbreaks with fatalities crop up somewhere in the world several times a year. Almost all turn out to be an already well-known infection with limited global consequences.”
University of Oxford infectious disease expert Jake Dunning previously told media outlets the term “Disease X” should be used in only some circumstances. Disease X should only really be used when there is an infectious disease with epidemic or pandemic potential and a novel pathogen has been identified or is strongly suspected,” he added.
“It would be more appropriate to say that, currently, this is an undiagnosed morbidity and mortality event.” The disease is localised in the Panzi district of Kwango Province, an estimated 48-hour drive from the capital Kinshasa.
Symptoms bear a similarity to pneumonia, influenza and Vovid-19. Other causes are believed to be Dengue, , measles and malaria. WHO’s Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said efforts are ongoing to bring samples back to the laboratory in the capital.
He said on Wednesday: “Of the 12 initial samples collected, 10 tested positive for malaria, although it’s possible that more than one disease is involved.” Although there is some belief that it could be something new, such as a human-transmissible mutation of the avian flu, News.com.au reported.
