The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is closely monitoring an unknown disease that has killed dozens in the Democratic Republic of Congo, the agency said in a statement on Monday. "CDC is monitoring the situation closely and engaging with DRC officials on what support the agency can offer," the agency's spokesperson said. At least 1,096 people have been sickened and 60 people have died from the disease, the World Health Organization said Thursday in its most recent update. This is the third time in the past few months officials have identified increases in illness and deaths in a different area of Congo, triggering "follow-up investigations to confirm the cause and provide needed support," the WHO said in a statement on Thursday. For example, there was a separate report of an unknown disease in December of last year in the central African country that was later attributed to illnesses from malaria and respiratory illnesses.

The COVID-19 pandemic reshaped our understanding of how viruses can impact our lives. After witnessing overwhelming hospitalizations and deaths, as well as disruptions of economies, we’re now grimly aware of the vulnerabilities in global health systems. However, there’s a chance we might now be facing another worldwide threat, as a new outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has sparked serious concerns.

The outbreak began on January 21 with the death of three young children who reportedly ate the carcass of a bat, then fell ill with a fast-moving haemorrhagic fever. Tests performed on the victims ruled out known diseases like Ebola, the Marburg virus, and yellow fever. W.H.O. said on Thursday that “increased disease surveillance has identified a total of 1096 sick people” who display symptoms including “fever, headache, chills, sweating, stiff neck, muscle aches, multiple joint pain and body aches, a runny or bleeding from nose, cough, vomiting and diarrhoea.” “Experts are stepping up disease surveillance, conducting interviews with community members to understand the background, and providing treatment for diseases such as malaria, typhoid fever and meningitis,” the U.N. health agency said. W.H.O. noted that about half of the samples taken from victims have “tested positive for malaria, which is common in the region.” It seems possible that the Congo illness could be exacerbated by malaria, meningitis, or food poisoning in the systems of the victims. W.H.O. said its investigators are looking for “unusual patterns” that might explain the virulence and lethality of the disease.

The initial fatality rate of the mystery illness is 12.49% – three times higher than Covid-19 – and patients are dying just 48 hours after they first develop symptoms. It comes as the Daily Star uncovered an apparent media blackout on the "worrying" disease with zero reports from local outlets on a viral infection that could devastate the country.

At least 1,096 people have been killed by an unknown disease in Congo. The symptoms include fever, headache, sweating, muscle aches and vomiting. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is monitoring the situation. It is the third time in the past few months that the disease has been linked to deaths.