In #plague news ...
An unknown illness has killed more than 50 people within hours of the onset of their symptoms in northwestern Congo, according to the World Health Organization.
Some 419 cases have been recorded including 53 deaths since the disease outbreak began in the Democratic Republic of Congo on January 21.
Doctors on the ground say the interval between first symptoms and death has been 48 hours in the majority of cases.
[...]
According to the WHO's Africa office, the first outbreak in the town of Boloko began after three children ate a bat and died within 48 hours following hemorrhagic fever symptoms.
A number of hemorrhagic fevers are already well known, systematically studied, and their genome can be recognised, but:
All samples have been negative for Ebola or other common hemorrhagic fever diseases like Marburg.
=> It's likely a new, previously unknown, hemorrhagic fever now infecting humans.
