Congo Government Says It's 'On Alert' Over Mystery Flu-Like Disease That Killed Dozens | rssama.com

KINSHASA, Congo (AP) — Public wellness officials successful Africa urged be aware Thursday arsenic Congo’s wellness curate said nan authorities was connected alert complete a mystery flu-like disease that successful caller weeks killed dozens of people.

Jean Kaseya, nan caput of Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, told reporters that much specifications astir nan illness should beryllium known successful nan adjacent 48 hours arsenic experts person results from laboratory samples of infected people.

“First diagnostics are starring america to deliberation it is simply a respiratory disease,” Kaseya said. “But we request to hold for nan laboratory results.” He added that location are galore things that are still chartless astir nan illness — including whether it is infectious and really it is transmitted.

Authorities successful Congo person truthful acold confirmed 71 deaths, including 27 group who died successful hospitals and 44 successful nan organization successful nan confederate Kwango province, wellness curate Roger Kamba said.

“The Congolese authorities is connected wide alert regarding this disease,” Kamba said, without providing much details.

Of nan victims astatine nan hospitals, 10 died owed to deficiency of humor transfusion and 17 arsenic a consequence of respiratory problems, he said.

The deaths were recorded betwixt Nov. 10 and Nov. 25 successful nan Panzi wellness area of Kwango province. There were astir 380 cases, almost half of which were children nether nan property of five, according to nan minister.

The Africa CDC recorded somewhat different numbers, pinch 376 cases and 79 deaths. The discrepancy was caused by problems pinch surveillance and lawsuit definition, Kaseya said.

Authorities person said that symptoms see fever, headache, cough and anemia. Epidemiological experts are successful nan region to return samples and analyse nan disease, nan curate said.

The Panzi wellness zone, located astir 435 miles (700 kilometers) from nan superior Kinshasa, is simply a distant area of nan Kwango province, making it difficult to access.

The epidemiological experts took 2 days to get there, nan curate said. Because of nan deficiency of testing capacity, samples had to beryllium taken to Kikwit, much than 500 km away, said Dieudonne Mwamba, nan caput of nan National Institute for Public Health.

“The wellness strategy is rather anemic successful our agrarian areas, but for definite types of care, nan ministry has each nan provisions, and we are waiting for nan first results of nan sample study to decently calibrate things,” Kaseya said.

Mwamba said that Panzi was already a “fragile” zone, pinch 40% of its residents experiencing malnutrition. It was besides deed by an pandemic of typhoid fever 2 years ago, and location is presently a resurgence of seasonal flu crossed nan country.

“We request to return into relationship each this arsenic context,” Mwamba said.

A Panzi resident, Claude Niongo, said his woman and seven-year-old girl died from nan disease.

“We do not cognize nan origin but I only noticed precocious fevers, vomiting... and past death,” Niongo told The Associated Press complete nan phone. “Now, nan authorities are talking to america astir an pandemic but successful nan meantime, location is simply a problem of attraction (and) group are dying,” he added.

Lucien Lufutu, president of nan civilian nine consultation model of Kwango province, who is successful Panzi, said nan section infirmary wherever patients are treated is underequipped.

“There is simply a deficiency of medicines and aesculapian supplies, since nan illness is not yet known, astir of nan organization is treated by accepted practitioners,” Lufutu told nan AP.

He besides said nan illness affected Katenda, different adjacent wellness zone.

When asked astir a imaginable outbreak successful different wellness zones, nan curate said he could not show if that was nan lawsuit but that thing was reported.

Congo is already plagued by nan mpox epidemic, pinch much than 47,000 suspected cases and complete 1,000 suspected deaths from nan illness successful nan Central African country, according to nan World Health Organization.

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The Associated Press receives financial support for world wellness and improvement sum successful Africa from nan Gates Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for each content. Find AP’s standards for moving pinch philanthropies, a database of supporters and funded sum areas astatine AP.org.

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World Health OrganizationCongoAfrica Centers Disease Control Prevention