A mysterious disease has killed dozens of people in just over a month in the Democratic Republic of Congo .

The country's health authorities themselves report: "An unknown public health event detected since October 24 has already caused the death of dozens of people out of a total of 382 affected". The death toll is not entirely clear: the doctor in charge of the health zone of Panzi, the most affected region 700 km south-east of the capital Kinshasa, speaks of at least 67 deaths. The BBC reports that they are around eighty .

A team of epidemiologists has been sent to the area and the authorities are calling on the population to limit their movements and not to panic . "Entrance and exit from this health zone must be limited, (we must) avoid greeting each other by shaking hands, wash our hands regularly ."

WHO is working with Congolese authorities "to understand the situation" and has sent a team to the country " to collect samples for laboratory analysis ." Congo has already been hit hard by Monkeypox, which has caused over a thousand deaths in recent months.

The disease causes fever, headache, cough, runny nose and anemia. So far it has affected people of all ages, including children, with almost all victims between the ages of 15 and 18.

"Let's hope so because the last time Ebola arrived from Congo . It seems that the symptoms are similar to the flu. The WHO is moving and we still have to understand well, maybe it's nothing to worry about", said infectious disease specialist Matteo Bassetti . "No panic, but be careful. In the modern world, as we have seen, viruses move very quickly ", is the comment of Roberto Burioni .

(Unioneonline/L)

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