A new mystery illness has popped up in Africa.  Health agencies are attempting to rush to identify the disease that’s sickened and killed dozens of people so far in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).

Between November 10th and 25th, fatalities were reported in the Panzi health zone in south-western Kwango province, where patients presented with symptoms such as fever, headaches, coughs, and anemia, according to provincial health minister Apollinaire Yumba. They were sick with an unidentified deadly flu-like illness.

According to a report by RT, Yumba urged the population to exercise caution, particularly by avoiding touching deceased individuals, to prevent further spread of the illness.

Local authorities reported that between 67 and 143 deaths have occurred, although official figures are still being verified.

“A team of epidemiological experts is expected in the region to take samples and identify the problem,” the deputy provincial governor, Remy Saki, told the Associated Press on Tuesday. –RT

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Civil society leader Cephorien Manzanza called the situation dire, noting that the rural Panzi zone faces severe shortages of medicines as the number of infected people continues to rise.

Congo is already plagued by the mpox (monkeypox) epidemic, with more than 47,000 suspected cases and over 1,000 suspected deaths from the disease in the Central African country, according to the World Health Organization.

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These simultaneous outbreaks do not appear to be related, at least when scouring mainstream media sources. However, the country is stillsimultaneously battling the ongoing health crises of such a severe epidemic of mpox, previously known as monkeypox. The WHO has reported over 47,000 suspected mpox cases and more than 1,000 suspected deaths in the DRC.

The WHO is aware of the unidentified disease and has a team on the ground working with local health services to collect samples, according to an organization employee who spoke on anonymity because he wasn’t authorized to talk to the media.