At least 31 people, mostly children under the age of 5, have died from an undiagnosed disease in the remote Kwango Province in the Democratic Republic of Congo, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).
The organization said at least 406 cases have been reported between October 24 and December 5 in the Panzi health zone.
"The sick present with symptoms of fever, headache, cough, runny nose and body ache. All severe cases were reported to be severely malnourished," the WHO added.
The area is said to be rural and remote and access has been hindered by the ongoing rainy season.
"Reaching it from Kinshasa by road takes an estimated 48 hours. These challenges, coupled with limited diagnostics in the region, have delayed the identification of the underlying cause," the organization said.
However, rapid response has been deployed to identify the cause of the outbreak and assist in strengthening medical and emergency response.
The WHO said given the clinical presentation and symptoms reported, and a number of associated deaths, acute pneumonia, influenza, Covid-19, measles and malaria are being considered as potential causal factors with malnutrition as a contributing factor.
Furthermore, medical teams are gathering samples for testing to provide a more detailed clinical diagnosis of the detected cases.
"Laboratory tests are underway to determine the exact cause. At this stage, it is also possible that more than one disease is contributing to the cases and deaths," the WHO said.
IOL