DR Congo mystery illness is 'severe form of malaria'

The symptoms of the disease are fever, headache, cough, runny nose and body aches.

"The mystery has finally been solved. It's a case of severe malaria in the form of a respiratory illness," the health ministry said in a statement, adding malnutrition in the area had weakened the local population, leaving them more vulnerable to disease.

The statement also said that 592 cases had been reported since October, with a fatality rate of 6.2 per cent.

Provincial health minister Apollinaire Yumba told Reuters that anti-malaria medicine provided by the World Health Organisation was being distributed in the main hospital and health centres in the Panzi health zone.

A WHO spokesperson said more health kits for moderate and critical cases were due to arrive on Wednesday.

WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said last week that 10 early samples from patients in DR Congo suffering from a mystery illness had tested positive for malaria but that he had not not ruled out the possibility that they suffered from other concurrent diseases.