UK must ‘remain vigilant’ after mystery illness kills over 50 people in DR Congo
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Experts have warned that the UK should be on alert after a mystery illness in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) that has killed dozens of deaths.
So far 419 cases and 53 deaths of an unknown illness have been recorded in northwestern Congo over the past five weeks, according to the World Health Organisation, with the deaths occurring within two days of symptoms onset.
Dr Zania Stamataki, Associate Professor in Viral Immunology, University of Birmingham, said the UK should “remain vigilant” as viral infections can remain dormant for days before people start showing symptoms, meaning people could travel and mix with others while they weren’t feeling to sick, spurring transmission.
“Infections know no borders and do not respect country lines. People travel and infections travel with them, either hitching a ride in a person or in animal carriers, so one cannot exclude spread outside of a country’s borders,” she said.
“In the UK and in other countries we need to remain vigilant and watch for symptoms. Symptoms of a haemorrhagic fever-type disease should be reported to the UK Health Security Agency via a registered medical practitioner.
“This outbreak, as well as previous outbreaks in the DRC are of significance to the rest of the world and we need to keep a close eye and assist with diagnosis and treatment. The large number of deaths of children and young people may be worsened by malnutrition and pre-existing conditions like malaria, that could weaken the immune system.”
Doctors on the ground said the symptoms include fever, vomiting and internal bleeding, in hemorrhagic fever-like symptoms commonly linked to deadly viruses including Ebola, dengue, Marburg and yellow fever.
Testing has so far ruled out those viruses, and WHO experts are supporting local health authorities to investigate the causes of the outbreak and how it is spreading, the organisation said.
The outbreak began in the town of Boloko after three children ate a bat and died within 48 hours following hemorrhagic fever symptoms, the Africa office of the WHO said on Monday.
It comes after another mystery illness outbreak late last year killed dozens of people in another part of the DRC, which was later determined to be likely malaria combined with malnutrition.
Dr Stamataki said the symptoms so far appeared to be different to the “alarming infection” caused by severe malaria in the DRC late last year, but much remained unclear.
“It is possible that we will see more cases. The incidents are currently correctly treated like an outbreak of infection, but it is not known how infection is transmitted, which makes it more difficult to contain. The best way to contain the outbreak is to isolate patients and stop travel in affected regions to prevent transmission,” she said.
While it remained unclear whether the outbreak was caused by a bat-related virus, she said bats carried many viruses that could be severe in humans.
“If the infection originated from a virus that came from a bat, this tells us that it is unlikely that we have pre-existing immunity to this new infection for humans, so we are unprotected, we suffer severe disease and even death,” Dr Stamataki said.
Dr Amanda Rojek, Senior Clinical Fellow, Pandemic Sciences Institute, University of Oxford, said this could be a situation where several common diseases are contributing to cases, and it was reassuring the tests for the deadly Ebola and Marbug viruses had been negative so far.
“Investigations will now be underway to examine the cause of the outbreak – which could include infectious diseases, or diseases caused by exposures to toxic or contaminated substances. Local health care teams will also be trying to identify how cases might be linked to each other,” she said.
“The outbreak investigation team will be verifying reports of a bat being consumed by children who later died of their illness because this raises the possibility of a zoonotic disease – that is, a disease spread from animals to humans. However, rumours are often rife early during an outbreak, and so verification of this information is important.”
Dr Rojek said support for local healthcare and scientific research were vital to managing and understanding outbreaks like this.
The UK Health Security Agency has been contacted for comment.
Additional reporting by PA
