Tejal Somvanshi
Since October 24, 2024, an unidentified illness termed "Disease X" has affected 376 people and killed 79 in the DRC's Kwango Province.
Photo Source: Josh Hild (Pexels
Photo Source: PxHere
The illness is predominantly affecting children under five, and most deaths were in those aged 15 to 18 years, and flu-like symptoms have been seen.
The alert on the outbreak came on December 1, revealing a delay in the surveillance and response mechanism on the disease.
Photo Source: NIAID (CC BY 2.0)
Photo Source: Sukhjinder (Pixahive.com)
The WHO-leader response is limited in this distant district region due to bad roads and infrastructure, heavy rain during recent days, and undetermined diagnostics.
Severe symptoms present among malnourished people, showing less accessible healthcare.
Photo Source: DFID (CC BY-SA 2.0)
Photo Source: The National Guard (CC BY 2.0)
The DRC itself continues to face numerous health emergencies together -mpox, having reported a high burden of HIV
Local leaders consider protective measures and suggest it is an airborne disease since studies remain done on pneumonia, influenza, COVID-19, and malaria.
As samples are analyzed in Kinshasa, health experts worldwide say emerging pathogens present another risk in low-resource settings.