What is Disease X? Why is the Congo outbreak raising alarm?
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Hundreds of people have been sickened by a mysterious flu-like illness in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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JOHANNESBURG – Dozens of people have died and hundreds have been struck by a flu-like illness dubbed Disease X that was first detected in a remote region of the Democratic Republic of Congo in late October 2024.
International health organisations and the Congolese authorities have dispatched teams to investigate, but they have yet to establish the cause.
Those infected have suffered fever, headache, cough, runny nose and body aches.
The high fatality rate and number of cases detected over a relatively short period have sparked concern about the emergence of a new pathogen with the potential to spread widely.
This comes just a few years after Covid-19 forced countries to shut borders and brought economies and societies to a near standstill.
Why did it take so long to raise the alarm?
Roughly the size of Western Europe, Congo is one of the world’s least developed countries and has a rudimentary health system with little diagnostic capacity to serve its population of more than 100 million people.
Disease X cases have centred on the Panzi health zone in south-western Kwango province, about 700km from the capital Kinshasa.
It can take about 48 hours to reach by road, with access all the more difficult during the rainy season. The national government was alerted to the outbreak only on Dec 1.
What is the likely cause?
No conclusive tests have been carried out so far, but for now, the World Health Organisation (WHO) has listed acute pneumonia, influenza, Covid-19, measles and malaria as potential causal factors.
It is also possible that more than one disease is contributing to cases and deaths. The vast reservoir of viruses circulating in wildlife is seen as a likely source of new diseases.
That is because of their potential to spill over and infect other species, including humans, giving rise to an infection against which people will have no immunity.
How worried should people be?
It is too early to say.
Cases have been detected only in Congo so far and there is no indication of whether the outbreak has spread beyond Panzi, which does not lie on a major transit route.
The disease does appear to be serious for those who contract it, with young children particularly at risk.
All those who have been infected have been severely malnourished and most have been younger than five.
Disease X emerged at a time of increased influenza circulation and is likely to be linked to airborne diseases, according to Congo’s National Public Health Institute. The illness may not manifest in the same way in other places with different pre-existing health conditions.
Where did the name Disease X originate?
The term was coined years ago as a way of getting scientists to work on medical countermeasures for unknown infectious threats
The idea was to encourage the development of platform technologies, including vaccines, drug therapies and diagnostic tests, that could be rapidly adapted and deployed in response to future outbreaks with epidemic or pandemic potential.
The WHO added Disease X in 2017 to a short list of pathogens deemed a top priority for research, alongside known killers like severe acute respiratory syndrome and the Marburg virus.
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