The CDC is ‘monitoring’ a mystery outbreak in the Congo that has killed people within 24 hours of symptoms appearing.
A spokesperson for the agency said Monday: ‘CDC is monitoring the situation closely and engaging with DRC officials on what support the agency can offer’.
The tally rose to 1,318 illnesses in the mystery outbreak yesterday, up 20 percent or 222 cases on the same time last week — while up to 60 deaths have been reported.
People started to fall ill in early February, suffering from a fever, headache, chills, joint pain and bleeding from the nose. A local report also suggested patients had experienced persistent crying.
The World Health Organization has dispatched a team of at least 80 health workers to the affected area to deliver emergency supplies and trace new infections.
But officials are still stumped as to the cause, after samples tested negative for Ebola and Marburg.
They are now working on the assumption that the sicknesses may have been caused by chemical contamination of food or water, either intentional or accidental, or that it is due to malnutrition in the area.
WHO officials say the risk to the US and other countries is ‘low’, while the risk in the affected area of the DRC is considered to be ‘moderate’.
Pictured above are workers in the Congo disinfecting buildings following an Ebola virus outbreak in July 2018
The CDC is yet to assess the risk of the outbreak to the US, and first revealed to ABC News that it was monitoring the outbreak.
But ex-White House doctor Stephanie Psaki — who spoke to DailyMail.com last week — said it was likely ‘low’.
It is at least the third mystery outbreak to hit the Democratic Republic of the Congo in as many months after another outbreak — later linked to malnutrition and severe malaria — was reported in late December and an outbreak of 12 cases and eight deaths was reported in January. The three outbreaks are not thought to be linked.
It comes amid an escalating war in the country, with forces now fighting an M23 insurgency in the east near the border with Rwanda.
In the latest outbreak, the alarm was first raised on February 9 after 24 unexplained deaths were reported in Basankusu, Equateur province in the north-west of the country.
Adolescent and young men were among most of the fatalities, which was unusual given that fatality rates are normally highest in older adults and children under five years old — prompting an investigation.
Officials also noted the rapid progression of the disease, with patients dying within a day of symptoms appearing on average.
A health team was then dispatched to the area, and told to consider anyone who has a fever and at least one other symptom as a patient.
Tests for Ebola and Marburg were negative, but about half of the patients tested have been positive for severe malaria.
The above shows the number of illnesses by the date reported in this outbreak
The above shows deaths in the mystery outbreak by date reported
And this shows the areas that have reported illnesses (left) and deaths as of February 25
Further tests on cerebrospinal fluid in patients and food and water samples for signs of contamination are ongoing.
A WHO spokesperson said: ‘Given the rapid decline in the incidence of reported deaths, their geographic clustering, the age profile of deaths and the rapid disease progression in the initial cluster, working hypotheses include chemical poisoning or rapid onset bacterial meningitis cluster, on a background of malaria and other infectious illnesses endemic in the region.’
It follows a second cluster of illnesses in Basankusu, about 175 kilometers away, where 12 people fell sick and eight people died in January.
WHO officials say there is no link between the two areas, which are separated by dense forest and poor impassable roads.