Authorities have so far confirmed 71 deaths, including 27 people who died in hospitals and 44 in the community in the southern Kwango province, Health Minister Roger Kamba said.
"The Congolese government is on general alert regarding this disease," Kamba said, without providing more details.
Of the victims at the hospitals, 10 died due to lack of blood transfusion and 17 as a result of respiratory problems, he said.
🦠SITUATION ÉPIDÉMIOLOGIQUE — Ministère de la Santé RDC 🇨🇩 (@MinSanteDRC) Le Ministère de la Santé Publique, Hygiène et Prévoyance Sociale vous convie à un point de presse portant sur l'évolution de l'épidémie de MPOX et la situation épidémiologique du Kwango les mesures de riposte prises en République Démocratique du… pic.twitter.com/0Dax2Bj4qZDecember 5, 2024
Authorities have said that symptoms include fever, headache, cough and anaemia.Â
Epidemiological experts are in the region to take samples and investigate the disease, the health minister said.
The health minister of Kwango province, Apollinaire Yumba, said medical workers in the southwest of the country had found two more villages where at least 60 deaths had been recorded.
According to Yumba, 382 people with symptoms of the disease have been registered so far.
It is not yet known whether the disease can be transmitted only through physical contact or also by other means.
Yumba said the medical experts have tried to encourage the population to practice hygiene and physical distancing.
DR Congo is already plagued by the mpox epidemic, with more than 47,000 suspected cases and about 1000 suspected deaths from the disease in the central African country, according to the World Health Organisation.
with DPA
