Play all audios:
THE OUTBREAK IN ONE OF THE VILLAGES IN NORTHWEST CONGO CAME AFTER A GROUP OF CHILDREN CONSUMED A BAT, SUFFERED TERRIFYING SYMPTOMS AND DIED WITHIN 48 HOURS 15:58, 28 Feb 2025 Health
officials are scrambling for answers in Congo after a mystery illness that causes intense crying fits killed more than 50 people over the court of five weeks - nearly half of them within
hours of infection. The outbreaks, including 419 cases and 53 deaths, have been detected in two distant villages in Congo's Equateur province since January 21. Officials have no idea as
to the cause, and are unsure whether the cases in both villages - which are 120 miles apart - are related. Worryingly, they are yet to determine how the disease is spreading. The first
victims struck down were a group of children who died 48 hours after eating a bat, according to the World Health Organization's Africa office. In the other village, more infections were
detected. Some of them were in malaria-infected patients. In a statement, the country's health officials said victims suffered a hemorrhagic illness, with fever, vomiting and major
internal bleeding listed as symptoms. Others experienced pain in the neck and joints, shortness of breath and profuse sweating. Among children, persistent crying was reported. Patients under
59 suffered intense bouts of thirst. READ MORE: Award-winning pram parents 'would recommend to anyone' cut by 30% in spring sale Article continues below Illnesses have been
clustered in two remote villages in different health zones of Equateur province, which is 400 miles (640 kilometers) from Kinshasa. The first outbreak began in the village of Boloko after
three children ate a bat and died within 48 hours. More than two weeks later a second and larger outbreak was recorded in the village of Bomate, where more than 400 people have been
sickened. Dr. Serge Ngalebato, medical director of Bikoro Hospital, a regional monitoring center, and one of the government experts deployed to respond to the outbreak, says the situations
in the two villages are somewhat different. Article continues below "The first one with a lot of deaths, that we continue to investigate because it's an unusual situation, (and) in
the second episode that we're dealing with, we see a lot of the cases of malaria," said Dr. Ngalebato. The WHO Africa office said the quick progression from sickness to death in
Boloko is a key concern, along with the high number of deaths in Bomate. Congo's Ministry of Health said about 80% of the patients share similar symptoms including fever, chills, body
aches and diarrhea. While these symptoms can be caused by many common infections, health officials initially feared the symptoms and the quick deaths of some of the victims could also be a
sign of a hemorrhagic fever such as Ebola, which was also linked to an infected animal. However, Ebola and similar diseases including Marburg have been ruled out after more than a dozen
samples were collected and tested in the capital of Kinshasa. The WHO said it is investigating a number of possible causes, including malaria, viral hemorrhagic fever, food or water
poisoning, typhoid fever and meningitis.