This article was updated 12/9/2024.

By Meaghan Lee Callaghan

An unknown flu-like illness has killed at least 79 people in a remote section of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, according to reports from the Congolese government.

The area affected by the outbreak—called the Panzi health zone in Kwango province, which is more than 400 miles southeast from the DRC capital of Kinshasa—has caused mixed accounts of how many people have come down with the mystery illness and delayed identifying the illness itself. 

However, in a press conference held Dec. 5, the director general of the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Jean Kaseya, MD, said laboratory samples should result in a better understanding in the next 48 hours, according to reporting from the Associated Press. 

“First diagnostics are leading us to think it is a respiratory disease. But we need to wait for the laboratory results,” Dr. Kaseya said in the AP report.

The WHO Africa region has also dispatched a research team to the area, according to a WHO spokesperson speaking to the BBC.

In a press statement released Sunday, Dec. 8, the WHO confirmed 31 deaths and 406 cases of the illness, noting that many of the confirmed deaths were in children under 5 years of age. With its rapid response teams in the area, WHO said in the release that identification of the disease is forthcoming, although it will still be delayed by external factors such as slow travel during the rainy season. “Given the clinical presentation and symptoms reported, and a number of associated deaths, acute pneumonia, influenza, COVID-19, measles and malaria are being considered as potential causal factors with malnutrition as a contributing factor. Malaria is a common disease in this area, and it may be causing or contributing to the cases,” the release said. “Laboratory tests are underway to determine the exact cause. At this stage, it is also possible that more than one disease is contributing to the cases and deaths.”

Government reports have stated that the outbreak began as early as Nov. 10, with reported symptoms including fever, cough, headache and anemia. Dr. Kaseya noted that it is still unclear whether the disease is truly infectious, and if so, how it is transmitted. In addition, the BBC has reported that the Congolese health ministry said many of those who have died are teenagers between the ages of 15 and 18 years.

The Africa CDC also reported that the illness has caused 79 deaths and 376 cases. Earlier numbers from the Congolese government, which were reported by the AP and Reuters, said between 67 and 143 people had died in November from the illness.