For now, two diagnoses are suggested for deadly yet undiagnosed disease in DRC, the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) said on X.
"There are two working diagnoses for the mystery disease in DRC’s Kwango province. The first suggests severe malaria compounded by malnutrition and a viral infection. The second points to a viral infection occurring alongside malaria and malnutrition," the statement read.
In just one week, the mystery disease, which mostly affects children under five, claimed five more lives, raising the total to 81 out of 592 cases, according to the latest CDC Africa data as of Friday, but the authorities of the Kwango province earlier reported 143 people dead.
"It is the alarming death toll that brought attention to the disease," Africa CDC emphasized.
On December 10, WHO experts joined the DRC's national team, investigating the cause of a mysterious disease.