The disease outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo, which was previously unknown, was officially identified as malaria, according to a Telegraph report citing the country’s health ministry statement on Tuesday.
Local authorities said earlier in the month that the disease killed 143 people in the southwestern Kwango province during November, according to a Tuesday Reuters report.
“The mystery has finally been solved. It’s a case of severe malaria in the form of a respiratory illness… and weakened by malnutrition,” the health ministry reportedly said in a statement.
The Telegraph added that last week, the World Health Organization (WHO) sent a team to collect samples and conduct investigations into the outbreak. This was reportedly done due to a “severe lack of testing facilities in the region.”
According to the report, “The WHO’s recent World Malaria Report found that there were around 11 million more cases of malaria in 2023 than in 2022, up to an estimated 263 million. At least 597,000 died, the vast majority of which were African children under the age of five.”
Treating malaria
The disease can be treated with anti-malarial drugs and even be cured within two weeks when diagnosed correctly, the report noted.
It also added that two new vaccines have “been licensed for use in children” and are starting to be brought out in several African countries.
This article was originally published at www.jpost.com
