Source: United Kingdom – Executive Government & Departments
Scientists comment to an unknown disease breakout in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
Prof Paul Hunter, Professor in Medicine, University of East Anglia (UEA), said:
“This is another cluster of fatalities in one of the poorer African countries. These are not rare. We saw another such cluster in DRC last November/December time. That last one turned out to be malaria and the was likely more severe as a result of increased malnutrition.
“So far I am not aware of much information about the current problem other than it is in the northwest of the country there are apparently two separate clusters in the area. The earlier cluster was reported in 21 January 2025 and is centred on Boloko Village in Bolomba Health District. The more recent cluster is in Bomate Village in Basankusu Health Zone and this was reported on the 9th February. No link is known between these two clusters. So far test results are negative foe Ebola and Marburg.
“The only other bit of information is that in the earlier cluster some of the children who died had apparently consumed bat carcasses. But the relevance of that is not yet known.
“What is causing these two clusters is not yet known or indeed whether the same thing is responsible for both. It is certainly possible that we have a similar issue to last autumn with malaria and malnutrition. But we need to wait the results of ongoing investigations to know the cause.”
Declared interests
Prof Paul Hunter “None”