Health authorities in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) have confirmed that the mysterious illness affecting the region is a result of severe malaria exacerbated by malnutrition. This announcement was made by the Ministry of Public Health on Thursday evening.
“The mystery has finally been resolved. We are dealing with severe malaria presenting as a respiratory illness in individuals who are already weakened by malnutrition,” the Ministry stated in a press release. This disease has been circulating since October in the Panzi health zone of Kwango province, located in the southwest.
According to a report from a Cabinet meeting chaired by Congolese President Félix Tshisekedi on Wednesday, there have been a total of 2,774 recorded cases up to the second epidemiological week of 2025, resulting in 77 fatalities and a case fatality rate of 2.8%.
In December, the Congolese government declared that it was on “maximum alert” regarding this illness, which had previously remained without a known cause.
