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Mystery 'Disease X' outbreak widens as WHO sends rapid response team to DR Congo

Dozens of people have died in southwest Congo after contracting a mysterious illness, dubbed Disease X.

More cases of a mysterious flu-like illness labelled “Disease X” were reported in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and the World Health Organization has dispatched a rapid response team to help investigate. Over 400 cases of the unidentified illness – marked by fever, headache, cough, runny nose, and body aches – have been reported since late October in the Panzi health zone in southwest Congo, the WHO said in a statement Sunday. While more than half of the cases involve children under 5, a 50-year-old man hospitalised in Lucca, Italy, is suspected to have recovered from the disease after a business trip to Congo, Il Tempo reported.

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