Congo’s government says it is “on high alert” for a mysterious flu-like illness

KINSHASA, Congo — Public health officials in Africa urged caution on Thursday as Congo’s health minister said the government was on alert for a mysterious flu-like illness that has killed dozens of people in recent weeks.

Jean Kaseya, head of the African Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, told reporters that more details about the disease should be known in the next 48 hours as experts receive the results of laboratory samples from infected people.

“The first diagnosis leads us to believe that it is a respiratory disease,” Kaseya said. “But we need to wait for the lab results.” He added that there are many things that are still unknown about the disease, including whether it is contagious and how it is transmitted.

Congolese authorities have so far confirmed 71 deaths, including 27 people who died in hospitals and 44 in the community in the southern province of Kwango, Health Minister Roger Kamba said.

“The Congolese government is on full alert for this disease,” Kamba said, without giving further details.

According to him, 10 of the victims died in hospitals due to lack of blood transfusion, and 17 died due to breathing problems.

The deaths were reported between November 10 and 25 in the Panzi Health Zone of Kwangju Province. According to the minister, there were about 380 cases, almost half of which were children under the age of 5.

The African CDC recorded slightly different numbers: 376 cases and 79 deaths. The discrepancy was caused by problems with surveillance and case identification, Kaseya said.

Authorities said symptoms include fever, headache, cough and anemia. According to the minister, there are epidemiologists in the region who are taking samples and investigating the disease.

The Panzi Health Zone, located approximately 435 miles from the capital Kinshasa, is a remote area of ​​Kwangho Province, making it difficult to access.

According to the minister, the epidemiologists arrived two days ago. Because of a lack of testing facilities, samples had to be flown to Kikwit, more than 500 kilometers away, said Dieudonne Mwamba, head of the National Institute of Public Health.

“The health care system in our rural areas is quite weak, but for certain types of care, the ministry has all the provisions and we are waiting for the first results of the analysis of the samples to calibrate things properly,” Kaseya said.

Mwamba said Panzi is already a “fragile” area with 40% of its residents suffering from malnutrition. Two years ago, it was also hit by an epidemic of typhoid fever, and now there is a resurgence of seasonal flu across the country.

“We have to take all of this into context,” Mwamba said.

Panzi resident Claude Nyong’o said his wife and 7-year-old daughter died of the disease.

“We don’t know the cause, but all I noticed was high fever, vomiting … and then death,” Nyong’o told The Associated Press by phone. “Now the authorities are telling us about an epidemic, but in the meantime there is a care problem (and) people are dying,” he added.

Lucien Lufutu, the president of the Kwangju Province Civil Society Consultative Structure, who is based in Pang, said the local hospital where the patients are being treated is under-equipped.

“There is a lack of medicine and medical supplies, as the disease is still unknown, most of the population is treated by traditional healers,” Lufutu told the AP.

He also said the disease has hit Katenda, another nearby health zone.

When asked about a potential outbreak in other health zones, the minister said he could not say whether that was the case, but nothing had been reported.

Congo is already suffering from a smallpox epidemic, with more than 47,000 suspected cases and more than 1,000 suspected deaths from the disease in the central African country, according to the World Health Organization.

Kamale and Pronchuk write for the Associated Press.