Showing posts with label Congo. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Congo. Show all posts
Thursday, December 04, 2025
Monday, March 10, 2025
Wednesday, February 26, 2025
Mystery Congo Disease Leaves 50 People Dead: What We Know
Published Feb 26, 2025 at 9:24 AM EST
Updated Feb 26, 2025 at 9:37 PM EST
By Jordan King
US News Reporter
At least 50 people have died from a mystery illness discovered in three children who ate a dead bat, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).
Newsweek has contacted the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), via email, for comment.
Why It Matters
Multiple deaths have taken place during this outbreak "which has seen cases rise rapidly within days, and poses a significant public health threat," WHO said.
What To Know
Some 53 people have died and 419 cases have been reported in eastern areas since the outbreak began on January 21, local health officials said in an update.
It started in the village of Boloko, where the first three victims died within 48 hours of eating a bat, according to the Africa office of the WHO.
This outbreak spread to nearby Danda Village, before a second, larger outbreak took place in Bomate Village, where more than 400 people were infected.
Symptoms include fever, vomiting, diarrhea, nose bleeds and fatigue. There was generally a 48-hour interval between the onset of symptoms and death.
The number of outbreaks caused by diseases jumping from animals to humans, usually occurring in places where wild animals are eaten, has surged by more than 60 percent in the last decade, the WHO said in 2022.
By Jordan King
US News Reporter
At least 50 people have died from a mystery illness discovered in three children who ate a dead bat, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).
Newsweek has contacted the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), via email, for comment.
Why It Matters
Multiple deaths have taken place during this outbreak "which has seen cases rise rapidly within days, and poses a significant public health threat," WHO said.
What To Know
Some 53 people have died and 419 cases have been reported in eastern areas since the outbreak began on January 21, local health officials said in an update.
It started in the village of Boloko, where the first three victims died within 48 hours of eating a bat, according to the Africa office of the WHO.
This outbreak spread to nearby Danda Village, before a second, larger outbreak took place in Bomate Village, where more than 400 people were infected.
Symptoms include fever, vomiting, diarrhea, nose bleeds and fatigue. There was generally a 48-hour interval between the onset of symptoms and death.
The number of outbreaks caused by diseases jumping from animals to humans, usually occurring in places where wild animals are eaten, has surged by more than 60 percent in the last decade, the WHO said in 2022.
The logo and building of the World Health Organization (WHO) headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, 15 April 2020. AP
What People Are Saying
WHO said: "Urgent action is needed to accelerate laboratory investigations, improve case management and isolation capacities, and strengthen surveillance and risk communication. The remote location and weak health care infrastructure increase the risk of further spread, requiring immediate high-level intervention to contain the outbreak."
WHO spokesperson Tarik Jašarević told a briefing on Tuesday: "The exact cause remains unknown." He also said: "We are looking into whether it is another infection or whether it is some toxic agent. We have to see what can be done and at what point WHO can support."
What Happens Next
Health officials are still investigating other potential causes for the mass illness, such as Ebola, Marburg, malaria, food poisoning, typhoid or meningitis.
Ebola and Marburg have already been "ruled out," WHO said, after multiple samples were sent to the National Institute for Biomedical Research in Congo's capital, Kinshasa—although some tested positive for malaria.
The "key challenges include the rapid progression of the disease, with nearly half the deaths occurring within 48 hours of symptom onset in one of the affected health zones, and an exceptionally high case fatality rate in another," WHO said.
What People Are Saying
WHO said: "Urgent action is needed to accelerate laboratory investigations, improve case management and isolation capacities, and strengthen surveillance and risk communication. The remote location and weak health care infrastructure increase the risk of further spread, requiring immediate high-level intervention to contain the outbreak."
WHO spokesperson Tarik Jašarević told a briefing on Tuesday: "The exact cause remains unknown." He also said: "We are looking into whether it is another infection or whether it is some toxic agent. We have to see what can be done and at what point WHO can support."
What Happens Next
Health officials are still investigating other potential causes for the mass illness, such as Ebola, Marburg, malaria, food poisoning, typhoid or meningitis.
Ebola and Marburg have already been "ruled out," WHO said, after multiple samples were sent to the National Institute for Biomedical Research in Congo's capital, Kinshasa—although some tested positive for malaria.
The "key challenges include the rapid progression of the disease, with nearly half the deaths occurring within 48 hours of symptom onset in one of the affected health zones, and an exceptionally high case fatality rate in another," WHO said.
Thursday, January 10, 2019
Congo's Powerful Catholic Church Disputes Results Of Presidential Election
January 10, 20195:31 PM ET
Heard on All Things Considered
Ofeibea Quist-Arcton
Congo's electoral chief announced the provisional results naming opposition leader Felix Tshisekedi as the new president. The Catholic Church immediately challenged the results based on observations.
Source
Saturday, January 05, 2019
Monday, December 31, 2018
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
Hillary Clinton Fights Back: 'I Will Not Be Channeling My Husband'
State Department Backs Off Claim Clinton Lost Her Cool Due to Mistranslation
By MARTHA RADDATZ and KIRIT RADIA
Aug. 11, 2009
The State Department today suggested there is more to the story of Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's curt response Monday to a Congolese student who seemed to ask her to give her husband's opinion on a local issue.
Secretary of State Clinton gets irked when a student asks her what Bill thinks.On Monday, at a town hall in Kinshasa in the Democratic Republic of Congo, a Congolese student asked the secretary and former NBA basketball player Dikembe Mutombo a question through an English translator.
"We've all heard about the Chinese contracts in this county, the interferences from the World Bank against this contract. What does Mr. Clinton think, through the mouth of Mrs. Clinton, and what does Mr. Mutombo think on this situation?" the translator said.
Clinton paused nearly nine seconds before responding.
"Wait, you want me to tell you what my husband thinks? My husband is not the secretary of state. I am. So, you ask my opinion, I will tell you my opinion. I'm not going to be channeling my husband," she said sharply.
Watch Video of Hillary Clinton's Response: "I'm Not Channeling My Husband"
Muted clapping and laughter could be heard from the audience, but most students may have likely been confused. It turned out the student had intended to ask about President Obama's opinion, not former President Bill Clinton's.
Clinton spokesman P.J. Crowley was very careful in his comments today, saying he doesn't know exactly what happened, but he suggested that the questioner misspoke instead of the translator, as Clinton aides first suggested on Monday.
Source: http://www.abcnews.go.com/GMA/Politics/story?id=8297962&page=1
P.S. Folks, we can add another Crowley to the list.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xiaI2EZ9ubwhttp://
.
By MARTHA RADDATZ and KIRIT RADIA
Aug. 11, 2009
The State Department today suggested there is more to the story of Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's curt response Monday to a Congolese student who seemed to ask her to give her husband's opinion on a local issue.
Secretary of State Clinton gets irked when a student asks her what Bill thinks.On Monday, at a town hall in Kinshasa in the Democratic Republic of Congo, a Congolese student asked the secretary and former NBA basketball player Dikembe Mutombo a question through an English translator.
"We've all heard about the Chinese contracts in this county, the interferences from the World Bank against this contract. What does Mr. Clinton think, through the mouth of Mrs. Clinton, and what does Mr. Mutombo think on this situation?" the translator said.
Clinton paused nearly nine seconds before responding.
"Wait, you want me to tell you what my husband thinks? My husband is not the secretary of state. I am. So, you ask my opinion, I will tell you my opinion. I'm not going to be channeling my husband," she said sharply.
Watch Video of Hillary Clinton's Response: "I'm Not Channeling My Husband"
Muted clapping and laughter could be heard from the audience, but most students may have likely been confused. It turned out the student had intended to ask about President Obama's opinion, not former President Bill Clinton's.
Clinton spokesman P.J. Crowley was very careful in his comments today, saying he doesn't know exactly what happened, but he suggested that the questioner misspoke instead of the translator, as Clinton aides first suggested on Monday.
Source: http://www.abcnews.go.com/GMA/Politics/story?id=8297962&page=1
P.S. Folks, we can add another Crowley to the list.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xiaI2EZ9ubwhttp://
.
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
Tens of thousands of civilians flee in east Congo
People throw stones at United Nations peacekeepers in an APC as they pass...
Oct 28 07:04 PM US/EasternBy MICHELLE FAULAssociated Press Writer
KILIMANYOKA, Congo (AP) - Rebels vowing to take Congo's eastern provincial capital advanced toward Goma Tuesday, sending tens of thousands fleeing. Chaos gripped a separate area as government soldiers fired on civilians and aid workers trying to escape, the top U.N. envoy said.
Alan Doss said peacekeepers were forced to "respond," apparently meaning they shot at troops who are supposed to be their allies, after the soldiers opened fire on those trying to leave Rutshuru, a strategic town north of Goma. He vowed to keep Rutshuru and other towns out of rebel hands.
"We are going to remain there, and we are going to act against any effort to take over a city or major population center by force," he told reporters in New York in a videoconference.
U.N. helicopter gunships were being used on fronts near Rutshuru and Kilimanyoka, which is about 7 miles north of Goma. They were hampered by rebels' use of civilians as shields, U.N. spokeswoman Sylvia van den Wildenberg told The Associated Press.
The rebels also are fighting around Rugari, a town between Goma and Rutshuru, as well as northwest of Goma around Sake—using several fronts to scatter government forces and U.N. peacekeepers.
By late afternoon Tuesday, it appeared the use of the gunships was paying off. About 200 government soldiers were nearly two miles closer to the rebels than the line of the troops that retreated. They were being resupplied from a truck loaded with rocket-propelled grenades.
Aid agencies in Rutshuru said their workers could hear bombs exploding as the rebels closed in and angry and frightened civilians and soldiers blocked their evacuation by U.N. peacekeepers.
The mob looted humanitarian centers and the belongings of about 50 trapped aid workers in Rutshuru, said Ivo Brandau, a spokesman for the U.N. humanitarian agency OCHA.
Brandau said tens of thousands of civilians were fleeing that town, heading north and east toward the Ugandan border. Rutshuru had a population of about 30,000 residents and the same number of refugees.
Doctors Without Borders said its doctors and nurses trapped at Rutshuru Hospital had treated 70 war wounded since Sunday but most patients had fled the hospital.
Meanwhile, a sudden influx of an estimated 30,000 people tripled in a matter of hours the size of a camp in Kibati, a few miles from the front line, said Ron Redmond, spokesman for the U.N. refugee agency.
"It's chaos up there," Redmond told The Associated Press from Geneva, citing U.N. staff in Congo. "These crowds of people coming down from the north have already started turning up there."
In Kibati, young men lobbed rocks Tuesday at three U.N. tanks also heading away from the battlefield. The U.N.'s peacekeeping mission is the agency's biggest in the world, with 17,000 troops.
"What are they doing? They are supposed to protect us," said Jean-Paul Maombi, a 31-year-old nurse from Kibumba.
The unrest in eastern Congo has been fueled by festering hatreds left over from the Rwandan genocide and the country's unrelenting civil wars. Renegade Gen. Laurent Nkunda has threatened to take Goma despite calls from the U.N. Security Council for him to respect a cease-fire brokered by the U.N. in January.
Nkunda charges that the Congolese government has not protected his minority Tutsi tribe from a Rwandan Hutu militia that escaped to Congo after helping perpetrate the 1994 Rwandan genocide. Half a million Tutsis were slaughtered.
Nkunda's ambitions have expanded since he launched a fresh onslaught on Aug. 28. He now declares he will "liberate" all of Congo, a country the size of Western Europe with vast reserves of diamonds, gold and other resources. Congo's vast mineral wealth helped fuel back-to-back wars from 1997 to 2003.
The U.N. says more than 200,000 people have been forced from their homes in the last two months, joining 1.2 million displaced in previous conflicts in the east. Outbreaks of cholera and diarrhea have killed dozens in camps, compounding the misery.
On Monday, peacekeepers in attack helicopters fired at the rebels trying to stop them taking Kibumba, a village on the main road 30 miles north of Goma. But fleeing civilians say the fighters overran Kibumba anyway.
The rebels retaliated by firing a missile at one U.N. combat helicopter Monday, but missed, U.N. spokeswoman Sylvie van den Wildenberg said.
U.N. efforts to halt Nkunda's rebellion are complicated by the country's rugged terrain, dense tropical forests that roll over hills and mountains with few roads.
The chief U.N. mandate is to protect the population. But since the peace deal it also is supposed to help the Congolese army disarm and repatriate Hutu militiamen—by force if necessary.
But Bisimwa, the rebel spokesman, claimed Tuesday the Congolese army has abandoned dozens of its positions to Hutu militiamen.
"It's the Hutus who are on the front line and whom we are fighting, not the army," he said. U.N. peacekeepers "leave us no choice but to fight on."
Nkunda long has charged that Congolese soldiers fight alongside the militia of Hutus, an ethnic majority of about 40 percent in the region.
Some 800 Hutu militiamen have voluntarily returned to Rwanda, the U.N. says, but the fighters recruit and coerce Congolese Hutu children and young men into their ranks daily—far outnumbering those who have returned home.
___
Associated Press writers Edith M. Lederer at the United Nations and Alexander G. Higgins in Geneva contributed to this report.
Alan Doss said peacekeepers were forced to "respond," apparently meaning they shot at troops who are supposed to be their allies, after the soldiers opened fire on those trying to leave Rutshuru, a strategic town north of Goma. He vowed to keep Rutshuru and other towns out of rebel hands.
"We are going to remain there, and we are going to act against any effort to take over a city or major population center by force," he told reporters in New York in a videoconference.
U.N. helicopter gunships were being used on fronts near Rutshuru and Kilimanyoka, which is about 7 miles north of Goma. They were hampered by rebels' use of civilians as shields, U.N. spokeswoman Sylvia van den Wildenberg told The Associated Press.
The rebels also are fighting around Rugari, a town between Goma and Rutshuru, as well as northwest of Goma around Sake—using several fronts to scatter government forces and U.N. peacekeepers.
By late afternoon Tuesday, it appeared the use of the gunships was paying off. About 200 government soldiers were nearly two miles closer to the rebels than the line of the troops that retreated. They were being resupplied from a truck loaded with rocket-propelled grenades.
Aid agencies in Rutshuru said their workers could hear bombs exploding as the rebels closed in and angry and frightened civilians and soldiers blocked their evacuation by U.N. peacekeepers.
The mob looted humanitarian centers and the belongings of about 50 trapped aid workers in Rutshuru, said Ivo Brandau, a spokesman for the U.N. humanitarian agency OCHA.
Brandau said tens of thousands of civilians were fleeing that town, heading north and east toward the Ugandan border. Rutshuru had a population of about 30,000 residents and the same number of refugees.
Doctors Without Borders said its doctors and nurses trapped at Rutshuru Hospital had treated 70 war wounded since Sunday but most patients had fled the hospital.
Meanwhile, a sudden influx of an estimated 30,000 people tripled in a matter of hours the size of a camp in Kibati, a few miles from the front line, said Ron Redmond, spokesman for the U.N. refugee agency.
"It's chaos up there," Redmond told The Associated Press from Geneva, citing U.N. staff in Congo. "These crowds of people coming down from the north have already started turning up there."
In Kibati, young men lobbed rocks Tuesday at three U.N. tanks also heading away from the battlefield. The U.N.'s peacekeeping mission is the agency's biggest in the world, with 17,000 troops.
"What are they doing? They are supposed to protect us," said Jean-Paul Maombi, a 31-year-old nurse from Kibumba.
The unrest in eastern Congo has been fueled by festering hatreds left over from the Rwandan genocide and the country's unrelenting civil wars. Renegade Gen. Laurent Nkunda has threatened to take Goma despite calls from the U.N. Security Council for him to respect a cease-fire brokered by the U.N. in January.
Nkunda charges that the Congolese government has not protected his minority Tutsi tribe from a Rwandan Hutu militia that escaped to Congo after helping perpetrate the 1994 Rwandan genocide. Half a million Tutsis were slaughtered.
Nkunda's ambitions have expanded since he launched a fresh onslaught on Aug. 28. He now declares he will "liberate" all of Congo, a country the size of Western Europe with vast reserves of diamonds, gold and other resources. Congo's vast mineral wealth helped fuel back-to-back wars from 1997 to 2003.
The U.N. says more than 200,000 people have been forced from their homes in the last two months, joining 1.2 million displaced in previous conflicts in the east. Outbreaks of cholera and diarrhea have killed dozens in camps, compounding the misery.
On Monday, peacekeepers in attack helicopters fired at the rebels trying to stop them taking Kibumba, a village on the main road 30 miles north of Goma. But fleeing civilians say the fighters overran Kibumba anyway.
The rebels retaliated by firing a missile at one U.N. combat helicopter Monday, but missed, U.N. spokeswoman Sylvie van den Wildenberg said.
U.N. efforts to halt Nkunda's rebellion are complicated by the country's rugged terrain, dense tropical forests that roll over hills and mountains with few roads.
The chief U.N. mandate is to protect the population. But since the peace deal it also is supposed to help the Congolese army disarm and repatriate Hutu militiamen—by force if necessary.
But Bisimwa, the rebel spokesman, claimed Tuesday the Congolese army has abandoned dozens of its positions to Hutu militiamen.
"It's the Hutus who are on the front line and whom we are fighting, not the army," he said. U.N. peacekeepers "leave us no choice but to fight on."
Nkunda long has charged that Congolese soldiers fight alongside the militia of Hutus, an ethnic majority of about 40 percent in the region.
Some 800 Hutu militiamen have voluntarily returned to Rwanda, the U.N. says, but the fighters recruit and coerce Congolese Hutu children and young men into their ranks daily—far outnumbering those who have returned home.
___
Associated Press writers Edith M. Lederer at the United Nations and Alexander G. Higgins in Geneva contributed to this report.
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