“This event highlights the severe burden from common infectious diseases (acute respiratory infections and malaria) in a context of vulnerable populations facing food insecurity,” said the WHO, which called for improved access to health care and food to fight growing malnutrition in the region.
A combination of the flu, Covid-19, other viral respiratory infections, malaria and acute malnutrition is most likely the source of what was initially thought to be a “mystery disease” in a remote area of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the World Health Organization said Friday.
Nearly 900 people have become ill and 48 have died, most of them children under age 5, according to the WHO.
Why it matters: An increase in deaths in the western DRC area of Panzi triggered an alert among national and global health authorities earlier this month that a potentially unknown pathogen may be sickening people in an area with very limited access to health care.