‘Disease X’ Outbreak Widens as UN Sends Health Team to Congo

More cases of a mysterious flu-like illness labeled “Disease X” were reported in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and the World Health Organization has dispatched a rapid response team to help investigate.

Over 400 cases of the unidentified illness — marked by fever, headache, cough, runny nose, and body aches — have been reported since late October in the Panzi health zone in southwest Congo, the WHO said in a statement Sunday. While more than half of the cases involve children under 5, a 50-year-old man hospitalized in Lucca, Italy, is suspected to have recovered from the disease after a business trip to Congo, Il Tempo reported.