The Democratic Republic of Congo said Thursday it was on “maximum alert” over a mystery disease that has killed dozens of people in just over a month.
The illness causes flu-like symptoms – fever, cough and headaches – and has been described by Congolese authorities as “an unknown public health event”.
First detected in late October, cases have so far been limited to the Panzi region, around 700 kilometres (435 miles) southeast of the capital, Kinshasa.
“We are on maximum alert, we consider this to be a level of epidemic that we need to monitor,” Health Minister Samuel Roger Kamba told reporters in Kinshasa.
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“In the health centres, we have counted 27 dead,” he said.
He added that another 44 deaths had been reported in the community but “other possible causes” could be involved in these.
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