Dangerous virus found after Covid-19: 53 people dead within 48 hours

Dangerous virus: An unknown illness has killed several people and infected hundreds of people in the Democratic Republic of Congo, the World Health Organization reported, with preliminary investigations tracing the outbreak to three children who died after eating bats in January.

Fifty-three people have died from the disease in the country’s northwest, out of 431 cases reported as of February 15, and in one of two identified clusters, “about half of the deaths occur within 48 hours of symptom onset,”. A weekly bulletin published by the W.H.O Africa office.

“In an outbreak, cases are rising rapidly within days, posing a significant risk to public health,” the report said, adding that “the exact cause is unknown.” Victims’ symptoms include fever, vomiting, diarrhea and body aches. Children who died of illness also had nosebleeds and vomited blood.

Contact with bats may be significant, as viruses in bats are known to cause several other diseases in humans. Bats are thought to be natural reservoirs for the Marburg and Ebola viruses, two hemorrhagic fevers that are the source of ongoing outbreaks in the region, and a bat virus found to be a precursor to the Covid-19 virus.

The disease, which infects people in Congo’s Équateur province, is fatal in 12 per cent of cases. Investigators identified the initial outbreak in Boloko village that spread to nearby Danda village, W.H.O. He said. A second, larger outbreak occurred in the village of Bomate and infected more than 400 people.

Investigators sent 18 samples to Congo’s capital Kinshasa for testing, ruling out Ebola and Marburg viruses. Last year, an unknown flu-like illness infected hundreds of people in the southwestern part of the country. It was later found to be respiratory infections complicated by malaria.

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