WHO confirms:
Malaria the main cause of deaths in Congo
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the previously unexplained wave of deaths in the southwest of the Democratic Republic of Congo could be due to malaria and frequent respiratory infections in combination with malnutrition.
430 laboratory samples have tested positive for malaria and common respiratory viruses such as influenza, rhinoviruses, SARS-CoV-2, human coronaviruses, parainfluenza viruses and human adenoviruses, the WHO said on Friday. Further laboratory tests will follow, according to the UN organization.
Dozens of deaths
At the beginning of December, the Democratic Republic of Congo declared that it was on "maximum alert" due to an "unknown public health event". The mysterious disease had led to dozens of deaths in the Panzi region, around 700 kilometers south-east of the capital Kinshasa.
The first cases appeared in October, and by the end of November increased surveillance was introduced and cases with fever, coughing, weakness and other symptoms such as chills, headaches and breathing difficulties were tracked.
Mainly children died
According to the WHO, 891 cases met these requirements in the period from October 24 to December 16, and 48 people died. Around half of the cases and deaths involved children under the age of five and were attributed to undiagnosed illness.
The Congolese authorities had already declared on December 17 that the previously mysterious disease was a severe form of malaria. "The mystery has finally been solved", announced the Ministry of Health a week before Christmas. It was severe malaria in the form of a respiratory disease.
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