Health officials in the Democratic Republic of Congo have confirmed that an unidentified disease reported in the Panzi health zone is a severe form of malaria.
The illness, which claimed 143 lives in November in the southwestern Kwango province, had raised alarm among local authorities earlier this month.
“The mystery has finally been solved. It’s severe malaria presenting as a respiratory illness, compounded by malnutrition,” the health ministry stated on Tuesday.
Since October 2020, the ministry has documented 592 cases of the illness, which has a fatality rate of 6.2%.