Malaria and common respiratory infections, compounded by malnutrition, caused an hitherto unexplained spate of deaths in the southwestern Democratic Republic of Congo, the World Health Organization said Friday.
The DR Congo said earlier this month it was on “maximum alert” over an “unknown public health event” that claimed dozens of lives in the Panzi region, around 700 kilometres (435 miles) southeast of the capital Kinshasa.
Children under five accounted for around half the cases and deaths from what was being described as an undiagnosed disease.
The situation first appeared on the radar in late October, with Panzi health authorities raising the alert in late November following a surge in deaths.
Enhanced surveillance was rapidly implemented, which, in the absence of a clear diagnosis, was based on tracking cases presenting with fever, coughs, body weaknesses, and symptoms such as chills, headaches and difficulty breathing, the World Health Organization said.
In an update on the situation, the WHO said that from October 24 to December 16, a total of 891 cases met the definition, with 48 deaths.
The UN health agency said that as of December 16, laboratory results from 430 samples showed positive results for malaria and for common respiratory viruses including influenza, rhinoviruses, SARS-CoV-2, human coronaviruses, parainfluenza viruses, and human adenovirus.
“While further laboratory tests are ongoing, together these findings suggest that a combination of common and seasonal viral respiratory infections and falciparum malaria, compounded by acute malnutrition, led to an increase in severe infections and deaths, disproportionally affecting children under five years of age,” the WHO said.
“This event highlights the severe burden from common infectious diseases (acute respiratory infections and malaria) in a context of vulnerable populations facing food insecurity,” it added.
The WHO assessed the overall public health risk in the affected communities as high, requiring stronger malaria control and improved nutrition.
At the national level, the risk was considered low due to the localised nature of the event.
“However, many other areas of DRC are seeing increasing levels of malnutrition, and what has been witnessed in Panzi could also happen elsewhere in the country,” the WHO added.
Access to the region is difficult by road and health infrastructure is lacking. Residents also face a shortage of drinking water and medicine.
According to the Congolese authorities, the region, which suffered a serious typhoid fever epidemic two years ago, has one of the highest malnutrition rates in the country at 61 percent.
The DRC, one of the world’s poorest countries, has in recent months been at the epicentre of an outbreak of mpox, with more than 1,000 deaths.
