New Disease Spreading Rapidly, Killing Dozens, After Children Ate a Bat

Image by GLODY MURHABAZI/AFP via Getty Images Developments A mysterious illness is spreading in the northwest of the Democratic Republic of Congo. As the Associated Press reports, World Health Organization doctors say that the illness has already led to 419 cases, including 53 deaths, since the latest outbreak began on January 21. A particularly harrowing detail: in the majority of cases, doctors say, death occurs within just 48 hours of the onset of symptoms. While researchers are still trying to get a grasp on the situation, the WHO's Africa office has traced back the first outbreak in the town of Boloko after three children ate a bat carcass and died within two days, according to the AP. The children died after bleeding from the nose and vomiting blood. The outbreak is frightening on its own, but also echoes the origins of the deadly COVID-19 pandemic, which is believed to have jumped from bats to humans in China before spreading worldwide and causing millions of deaths. Accor ... Read full article.