CNN —
A mysterious illness outbreak that has sickened at least 416 people and killed 31 in a remote region of the Democratic Republic of Congo may be at least partly caused by malaria, health officials said Tuesday.
Information on the situation is still limited. World Health Organization Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said that of 12 initial samples collected from patients, 10 tested positive for malaria, “although it’s possible that more than one disease is involved,” he said.
Patients’ symptoms have included headache, cough, fever, breathing difficulties, body aches and anemia. Most of the cases and deaths are in children under the age of 14.
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The unidentified illness, which some are calling “disease X,” has spread in the Panzi district of Kwango Province, an area that is remote and rural. There is limited health infrastructure or telecommunication, and travel is on dirt roads that have been flooded during the rainy season.
The area has high levels of malnutrition and low vaccination coverage, leaving children vulnerable to a range of diseases, including malaria, pneumonia and measles, Tedros added.
An initial team of experts was deployed to the area November 30. They were joined by a larger WHO team Tuesday, Tedros said. The teams will be collecting more samples to try to determine the exact cause or causes of the outbreak.
Some patients in mysterious outbreak in Democratic Republic of Congo have malaria, early testing reveals
