The World Health Organization (WHO) recently published a Situation at a Glance confirming the Democratic Republic of the Congo has reported a cluster of 24 unexplained community deaths in a single village in Ekoto health area, Basankusu health zone, Equateur province.
As of February 25, 2025, a total of 53 deaths have been reported out of 1,318 patients meeting the working suspected case definition.
The WHO's DON557 disclosed on March 3, 2025, that the progression of the unknown disease appeared to be fast, with a median time from the onset of symptoms to death of one day.
Africa's Unknown Disease Outbreak Remains Undetermined
Oropouche Virus Has Spread Throughout the Americas
Since first detected in 1955 in the Carribean, Oropouche virus (OROV) has been reported across various countries in the Region of the Americas.
According to an article published in the Journal of Travel Medicine on March 2, 2025, OROV was historically confined to the Brazilian Amazon Basin and was often mistaken for dengue, another mosquito-transmitted virus.
However, since late 2022, OROV cases have also been reported in Bolivia, Ecuador, Guyana, Colombia, Cuba, Panama, and Peru.