Health
‘Disease X’ Identification Delayed by Remote Congo Jungles
- Mystery illness is major Congo public-health worry: Africa CDC
- Efforts underway to at least partly transport specimens by air
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Identifying an outbreak of a mystery illness in a remote part of the Democratic Republic of the Congo has been delayed by challenges in getting good quality samples to a national laboratory in the capital, Kinshasa, for testing.
Congo, which is as big as the US states of Alaska and Texas combined, reported another 147 cases of the flu-like illness dubbed “Disease X” in the past week, Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention Director General Jean Kaseya said in an online briefing Thursday.