Health
‘Disease X’ Trackers Confront Logistics Quagmire in Congo
- Limited diagnostics delay identification of flu-like illness
- Most cases are found in young and malnourished children
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Scientists racing against time to contain an outbreak of a mysterious flu-like illness in a remote part of the Democratic Republic of the Congo have more to contend with than identifying its cause.
Just reaching the epicenter of the outbreak of “Disease X” can take about 48 hours by road from the capital, Kinshasa. It’s also the rainy season there, slowing the progress of experts as well as testing kits and other medical supplies to the area in the forested country’s southwestern Kwango province.