DRC health ministry says mystery disease is ‘severe’ form of malaria

Malnutrition in south-west Kwango province has left local population vulnerable to the illness, experts say

A previously unidentified disease circulating in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) is a severe form of malaria, the country’s health ministry has said.

Earlier this month, local authorities said the disease had killed 143 people in the south-west Kwango province in November. The symptoms of the disease are fever, headache, cough, runny nose and body aches.