KINSHASA, Congo — A mysterious disease, first identified in three children who consumed a bat, has rapidly killed more than 50 people in northwestern Congo over the past five weeks, according to health officials.
The illness, which presents symptoms such as fever, vomiting, and internal bleeding, has an extremely short progression—leading to death within 48 hours in most cases.
“That’s what’s really concerning,” said Serge Ngalebato, medical director of Bikoro Hospital, a key regional monitoring center.
These symptoms resemble those of hemorrhagic fever caused by deadly viruses like Ebola, dengue, Marburg, and yellow fever.
However, initial tests on more than a dozen collected samples have ruled out these known viruses, leaving researchers searching for the cause.
The outbreak, which started on January 21, has resulted in 419 reported cases and 53 deaths, according to the latest data.
It began in the village of Boloko, where the three children who first exhibited symptoms died within 48 hours of eating the bat, the Africa office of the World Health Organization (WHO) reported on Monday.
Experts have long warned about the risks of zoonotic diseases—those that jump from animals to humans—especially in regions where wild animals are commonly consumed.
The WHO noted in a 2022 report that the number of such outbreaks in Africa has risen by more than 60 percent in the past decade.