All known pathogens
WHO: But probably no mysterious “Disease X” in the Congo
Updated 12/28/2024 – 9:34 a.mReading time: 2 min.
The mystery seems solved: “Disease X” in the Congo is probably a mixture of malaria and various respiratory diseases.
The wave of illness in a remote region of the Democratic Republic of Congo, which has been referred to for weeks as “Disease X”, is likely to be entirely due to already known pathogens. Malaria, flu, rhinoviruses, coronaviruses and other viruses were found in 430 laboratory samples from sick people, the World Health Organization (WHO) said.
Hundreds of people have been sick in the Panzi region of southwestern Kwango province since the end of October. A month later, local authorities sounded the alarm. The sick suffered from flu-like symptoms, including fever, runny nose, headaches, body aches and difficulty breathing. The WHO spoke of 48 deaths, the local authorities recently assumed more than 130 deaths.
There were a particularly large number of children under the age of five among those affected. Around 40 percent of people in the region are said to be undernourished, and among children the proportion is estimated at 60 percent. According to the WHO, acute malnutrition has actually increased in recent months. Anyone who does not have enough nutrition and therefore lacks nutrients has a much higher risk of becoming seriously ill from various pathogens.
At first, it was difficult for Congolese health authorities to obtain good samples from the remote region. According to the African health agency CDC Africa, it took three days to get to the area from the capital Kinshasa, partly because the roads there are in very poor condition. Numerous samples from Panzi could not have been used initially.
But now there is a lot of information available, explained the WHO. That’s why it comes to the preliminary conclusion: “Overall, the results suggest that a combination of frequent and seasonal viral respiratory infections and falciparum malaria, combined with acute malnutrition, led to an increase in serious infections and deaths, disproportionately affecting children under five years of age were severely affected.” However, further laboratory tests would be carried out.
Work is currently underway to ensure health care in the region, it said. “Multidisciplinary crisis response teams” have been deployed to investigate the incident and strengthen measures on site.
According to the WHO, the whole process illustrates the extent to which certain population groups are burdened by widespread infectious diseases. Malnutrition in particular must be combated.
The German infectiologist Torsten Feldt also explained that the health systems in such remote regions generally need to be strengthened – “not just protection against outbreaks that can affect us”. There are a number of effective prevention measures that can protect children in particular, said Feldt, who is also second chairman of the German Society for Tropical Medicine, Travel Medicine and Global Health. These included, for example, bed nets impregnated with insecticides to prevent mosquitoes.