Boloko (Democratic Republic of the Congo) - The World Health Organization (WHO) is worried - a deadly disease is on the rise in the Congo . Nobody knows what it is. 53 people have already died.

The first cases became known in mid-January. In the village of Boloko in north-western Congo, three children suddenly became very ill after eating bat meat.

According to the WHO, the young patients initially suffered from fever, fatigue and diarrhea. Then the toddlers showed symptoms of severe hemorrhagic fever: acute nosebleeds, bloodshot eyes, vomiting blood. Within a few hours, the previously unknown pathogen killed the children. They all died. Then other villagers became infected.

In the meantime, 419 cases have been confirmed and 53 people did not survive the pathogen, reports the AP news agency.

It is still completely unclear which pathogen is involved. Although the symptoms are similar to those of known tropical diseases such as Ebola or Marburg fever, the corresponding tests were negative.

According to the WHO, there is an urgent need for action. This is because the disease continues to spread rapidly and the death rate is exceptionally high, with most patients dying within just 48 hours. However, the remote location of the affected area makes it considerably more difficult to care for those infected and to research the disease.

Meanwhile, the first cases have also been reported in the Bromate region, according to the Anadolu news agency, among others. Thousands are on the run in the area.

Devastating outbreaks of deadly diseases continue to occur in the Congo Basin. At the end of last year, hundreds of people complained of flu-like symptoms. The new "disease X" posed major problems for doctors at the time , but later turned out to be a particularly aggressive variant of malaria.

Regardless of this, there is a bloody rebel uprising in the bitterly poor country .