A deadly flu-like disease that has claimed the lives of more than 143 people in the Democratic Republic of the Congo was initially referred to as "Disease X" due to its unidentified nature. The disease, which predominantly affected women and young children, has now been officially diagnosed as a severe form of malaria. It has infected approximately 600 people, primarily children.
"The mystery has finally been solved. It's a case of severe malaria in the form of a respiratory illness... and weakened by malnutrition," the health ministry said in a statement. It also said that 592 cases had been reported since October with a fatality rate of 6.2%.
Notably, Disease X was a term coined by WHO to describe a hypothetical, unknown pathogen with epidemic or pandemic potential.
The WHO listed the Democratic Republic of the Congo as having one of the highest burdens of malaria in the world, accounting for 11% of global malaria cases and deaths. Malaria not only threatens the health of Congolese people but also may cause the import of malaria into malaria-free countries. There are ethnic and regional differences in genotypes associated with malaria epidemics.
New data from the WHO reveal that an estimated 2.2 billion cases of malaria and 12.7 million deaths have been averted since 2000, but the disease remains a serious global health threat, particularly in the WHO African Region.
According to WHO's latest World malaria report, there were an estimated 263 million cases and 597,000 malaria deaths worldwide in 2023.
This represents about 11 million more cases in 2023 compared to 2022 and nearly the same number of deaths. Approximately 95% of the deaths occurred in the WHO African Region, where many at risk still lack access to the services they need to prevent, detect, and treat the disease.
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