Mysterious disease in Congo killing patients within 48 hours

A mysterious disease spreading in the northeast of the Democratic Republic of Congo since January 21 has infected 419 people, with 53 deaths, doctors working with the World Health Organisation (WHO) have confirmed. 

The as yet unidentified pathogen first showed up in the town of Boloko where three children died of bleeding from the nose and vomiting blood after they ate a dead bat. 

In the majority of the cases, death has occurred within 48 hours of the appearance of the first symptom. 

As WHO rushes against time to get a handle on the situation, doctors have determined that the disease has a 12.3 percent fatality rate, posing a significant threat to the beleaguered country. While its symptoms are mostly hemorrhagic, lab tests have shown that the disease has no link with more worrying diseases like Ebola or Marburg. 

In December, another mysterious outbreak of a disease was eventually identified as a particularly virulent strain of malaria.