The WHO Africa office said the quick progression from sickness to death in Boloko is a key concern, along with the high number of deaths in Bomate. Congo’s Ministry of Health said about 80% of the patients share similar symptoms including fever, chills, body aches and diarrhea.

An unknown illness first discovered in three children who ate a bat has rapidly killed more than 50 people in northwestern Congo over the past five weeks, health experts say.

World Health Organization officials said the outbreak appeared to originate from a village where three children died after reportedly eating a bat carcass.

The outbreak has been traced, tentatively, to three children who ate a bat, the W.H.O. said, and known threats like Ebola and Marburg have been ruled out.

The outbreak began in January, with 419 cases recorded so far, and comes after another mystery illness killed 143 in December

The outbreak of a currently unknown disease in northwest Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has seen hundreds of people sickened and more than 50 killed since mid-January, health officials have reported.

An unknown illness in northwestern Congo has killed over 50 people in the past five weeks, with symptoms including fever, vomiting, and internal bleeding.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has reported more than 50 deaths from an unknown illness in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, which has an extremely short window between symptoms and death