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A Deadly Unidentified Disease Has Emerged in the DRC


More than 50 people have died in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, most within 48 hours of the onset of symptoms. Initial analysis suggests neither Ebola nor Marburg is the cause.

According to the World Health Organization, the disease was first detected on January 21, and over the past five weeks hundreds have been infected and more than 50 people have died in the northwest of the country. Initial investigations suggest the outbreak began in the village of Boloko, where three children died within days of eating the carcass of a bat. “The exact cause remains unknown, with Ebola and Marburg already ruled out, raising concerns about a severe infectious or toxic agent,” the WHO wrote in its most recent bulletin on the outbreak, stressing the urgent need to accelerate laboratory investigations, improve the management and isolation of those infected, and increase surveillance and risk communication.

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