Acute respiratory infections complicated by malaria (previously undiagnosed disease) – Democratic Republic of the Congo
This is an update to the Disease Outbreak News on Undiagnosed disease in the Democratic Republic of the Congo published on 8 December 2024 (now named acute respiratory infections complicated by malaria). It includes updated epidemiological investigation information and preliminary laboratory results. On 29 November, an alert was raised by local health zone authorities of Panzi health zone in Kwango province after an increase in deaths, particularly among children under five years of age, following febrile illness. Enhanced epidemiological surveillance was rapidly implemented, which in the absence of a clear diagnosis was based on the detection of syndromic cases of febrile illnesses with cough, body weakness, with one of a number of other symptoms compatible with acute respiratory and febrile illnesses. This resulted in a rapid increase in the number of cases meeting the definition, with a total of 891 cases reported as of 16 December. However, the weekly number of reported deaths (48
