According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), an unknown illness has emerged in the Democratic Republic of Congo, claiming the lives of over 50 people in northwest Congo. These deaths come in the past five weeks, with the outbreak occurring on January 21, 2025. Since then, 419 cases and 53 deaths have been recorded.
The outbreak began in the village of Boloko, after three children consumed a bat and died within 48 hours. The children exhibited symptoms of hemorrhagic fever, commonly associated with deadly viruses such as Ebola, dengue, Marburg, and yellow fever. However, researchers have ruled out these diseases after samples were taken and tested, leaving the cause of the illness unidentified.
The outbreak in northwestern Congo has been identified by rapid progression from symptom onset to death, typically within 48 hours, which is a significant concern for health officials. The symptoms reported include fever, vomiting, and internal bleeding, similar to those associated with hemorrhagic fevers such as Ebola, Marburg, and yellow fever. There has been a long-standing concern with zoonotic diseases transferring from animals to humans, especially in regions where wild animals are eaten. In 2022, the WHO reported that over the last decade, there’s been a surge of over 60% of such outbreaks in Africa. Ebola and other hemorrhagic fevers accounted for 70% of those outbreaks, alongside diseases such as monkeypox, dengue, anthrax, and plague.
Second Outbreak in Bomate
A second outbreak was reported in the village of Bomate on February 13, 2025, with a larger number of cases compared to Boloko. 45 deaths out of the 419 cases were recorded at Bomate with almost half of the deaths happening after 48 hours of contracting the illness. While some patients in Bomate tested positive for malaria, no direct link between the outbreaks in the two villages has been established.
The situation in Bomate is somewhat different: Tests of samples from 13 cases were conducted at the National Institute for Biomedical Research, located in Kinshasa, Congo’s capital. Results from these tests determined all samples were negative for Ebola and Marburg but teams were also testing for other viral haemorrhagic infections like typhoid, food poisoning ,malaria and meningitis. Malaria, in particular, has been identified in some cases, especially in the Bomate outbreak.
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