British experts have spoken out amid growing concern about a new mystery virus that’s killed 53 people in Africa.
World Health Organization data released last night shows 431 people have now been diagnosed in two remote villages in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).
Worried officials there have launched a probe to discover the cause of the outbreak, with health chiefs warning it could pose a ‘significant public health threat’ should it continue to spread uncontrolled.
But experts are still baffled as to what triggered the sudden outbreak or how the illness is spreading, warning today that ‘high-level intervention’ was vital.
Tests have, so far, all proven negative for Ebola or other common haemorrhagic fever diseases like Marburg dubbed ‘the eye-bleeding virus’.
Dr Michael Head, a senior research fellow in global health at the University of Southampton, said: ‘There is a huge amount of uncertainty about this outbreak.
‘Outbreaks like this will happen many times around the world and are typically brought under control relatively quickly.
‘However, here, it is concerning that we have hundreds of cases and over 50 deaths, with haemorrhagic-fever like symptoms widely reported among those cases.’
Concerned officials in the African nation have launched a probe to discover the cause of the outbreak, warning it could pose a ‘significant public health threat’ should it continue to spread uncontrolled
He added: ‘Tests are never 100 per cent accurate, and it is likely that with increased testing, we will have a confirmed pathogen in some of those samples.
‘The lack of healthcare infrastructure in the DRC means the public health response is more complicated.
‘However, the country has had mpox and Ebola outbreaks in recent times, so they are experienced at addressing infectious disease epidemics.’
Professor Paul Hunter, an infectious disease expert at the University of East Anglia, said: ‘We saw another such cluster in DRC last November, December.
‘That turned out to be malaria and was likely more severe as a result of increased malnutrition.
‘It is certainly possible here that we have a similar issue. But we need to wait the results of ongoing investigations to know the cause.’
The WHO, meanwhile, noted: ‘The remote location and weak healthcare infrastructure increase the risk of further spread, requiring immediate high-level intervention to contain the outbreak.’
A spokesperson for the UN agency, Tarik Jašarević, also told a briefing: ‘The outbreaks, which have seen cases rise rapidly within days, pose a significant public health threat.
The World Health Organization reported 431 people had been struck down — with 53 dead — in two remote villages in the country’s western Équateur province
‘We are looking into whether it is another infection or whether it is some toxic agent.’
According to the WHO, the outbreak was first discovered in January in the town of Boloko after the deaths of three children all aged under 5.
All three had reportedly eaten a dead bat before falling ill with haemorrhagic fever symptoms — where organs and blood vessels are damaged, causing bleeding internally or from the eyes, mouth and ears.
Marburg, one of the most infamous causes of hemorrhagic fever, is known to trigger bleeding from the eyes, with symptoms appearing abruptly.
The virus can be spread by touching or handling body fluids of an infected person, contaminated objects or infected wild animals.
It is said initially to be transmitted to people after prolonged exposure to mines or caves inhabited by fruit bats.
Symptoms appear abruptly and include severe headaches, fever, diarrhoea, stomach pain and vomiting. They become increasingly severe.
Yet, samples taken from 13 cases have tested negative for Ebola and Marburg.
Marburg has a mortality rate of up to 88 percent. There are currently no vaccines or treatments approved to treat the virus
The WHO said health teams were locally investigating other potential causes, including malaria, food poisoning, typhoid, meningitis or other viral haemorrhagic fevers.
Experts have long warned of the threat of diseases jumping from animals to humans via locations such as wet markets, where wild animals are eaten — labelling them ideal breeding grounds for pathogens.
One infamous site in the Chinese city of Wuhan is thought to have played a role in Covid’s murky origin.
However, Professor Ian Jones, a virologist at the University of Reading, noted the report of bat consumption ‘seems to be anecdotal and only in one of the clusters’.
He told MailOnline: ‘There is always a risk of a zoonotic infection and post Covid there is an understandably heightened concern when these things happen.
‘But the truth is they are rare and, in most cases, they are self-limiting unless local circumstances sustain them.
‘The most important step now is to find out what it is and how it is transmitted so that the appropriate barriers can be put in place.’
By January 27, 2025, a total of 12 cases, including 8 deaths, had been recorded in Boloko.
A larger second outbreak of the mystery disease was identified in the town of Bomate on February 9.
As of February 15, 419 cases including 45 deaths, had been recorded in the area.
But, the WHO said no links had yet been established between the two clusters of cases.
Symptoms, including a fever, vomiting, neck stiffness and internal bleeding, have appeared abruptly, with death within 48 hours in most cases.
‘Sequencing and additional investigations are ongoing to determine the cause of illness and deaths in the two health zones,’ the UN agency added.
