Malaria confirmed as cause of deadly outbreak in DRC

Health officials in the Democratic Republic of Congo have confirmed that a mysterious illness that killed more than 50 people earlier this year was malaria.

The National Public Health Institute announced late Monday that tests confirmed the disease caused the deaths of 52 people and affected nearly 1,000 others in Equateur province.

Symptoms included fever, fatigue, vomiting, and weight loss. Initially suspected to be either malaria or food poisoning, the illness was identified after lab testing on patient samples. Officials are still awaiting the results of tests on food, water, and drink samples.

This follows a separate malaria outbreak in December, also initially unidentified, that has since been confirmed as malaria.