The time span between the first symptoms and the patients' deaths is worrying the doctors. In the majority of cases, death has occurred after only 48 hours.
The first outbreak in poor and conflict-ridden Congo-Kinshasa was registered in Boloko in the northern parts of the country on January 21. Since then, around 420 cases have been noted and more than 50 patients have died.
The children who were affected first are said to have fallen ill after eating bats, according to WHO. They died within two days with symptoms of bleeding fever, but tests have ruled out known viruses such as Ebola and Marburg.
The global community has long been worried about diseases that jump from animals to humans in places where wild animals are often consumed. The last decade has seen an increase of 60 percent in outbreaks of that type of origin in Africa, according to WHO in 2022.
