Mysterious disease kills many in Congo, Ministry of Health actively monitors

On December 12, according to the Department of Preventive Medicine, the World Health Organization (WHO) reported that in the Panzi area, Kwango province, Democratic Republic of Congo, 406 cases of an unknown disease were recorded, including 31 deaths.

Symptoms of the disease include fever, headache, cough, runny nose and muscle pain. Cases are mainly in children (53% of cases and 54.8% of deaths are under 5 years old) and all severe cases are severely malnourished.

The area where the outbreak is occurring is a rural area, in a remote province far from the capital Kinshasa (48 hours by road).

The region has also experienced food shortages in recent months; poor health conditions, low vaccination rates, and limited access to diagnostics and case management.

It is also the rainy season, making access to health services difficult (impacting the identification of the cause of the disease). Malaria is common in the area and is thought to be linked to the cases. However, malaria control measures are very limited.

WHO assesses the risk to affected communities in the outbreak area as high based on information on limited provision and access to health services.

Vaccination rates are low, living conditions, food, and transportation in the area are very difficult. At the same time, initial information about clusters of cases in family clusters was recorded, showing the possibility of spreading within households.

However, at the national level in Congo, the risk is considered moderate as the current outbreak is localized in the Panzi area of ​​Kwango province, although there is still the potential for spread to neighboring areas.

At the regional and global levels, WHO assesses the risk as low, only noting surveillance at the border with the neighboring country near the outbreak area, Angola.

Several countries in the region also assessed the risk of disease introduction from the DRC as low, given the low number of visitors from the region and the lack of direct flights from the DRC.

In Vietnam, the General Department of Preventive Medicine said it will continue to monitor and closely follow the developments of the epidemic situation, proactively conducting event-based surveillance with information about the epidemic in the DRC. The Department will also coordinate with WHO and IHR focal points of countries to update and share information about the epidemic.

In case of new developments, the department will coordinate with WHO, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and relevant units to assess the risk and propose appropriate responses, including strengthening medical quarantine work.