# Mysterious respiratory illness kills at least 143 in Congo, mostly children **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [December 8, 2024, 6:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mysterious-respiratory-illness-kills-at-least-143-in-congo-mostly-children/1011338 "2024-12-08T06:54:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2024, 6:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mysterious-respiratory-illness-kills-at-least-143-in-congo-mostly-children/1011338/1 "2024-12-08T06:54:59Z")
Symptoms include cough, fever, and interestingly, anemia. Most of the diagnosed victims were aged 5 or less, and it’s unknown if the anemia is part of the illness, or if people who are anemic, due to malnutrition or other reasons, are more susceptible. (My guess? It’s something that’s been here all along, and a bunch of cases popped up all at once.) [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/qmUXz-e_w7s/maxresdefault.jpg "What is the Mystery “Disease X” and Why is it Killing Dozens? | Vantage with Palki Sharma") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qmUXz-e_w7s&t=219s/) ---
**Author:** ![Eric1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/3bc359/32.png) [@Eric1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eric1)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2024, 11:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mysterious-respiratory-illness-kills-at-least-143-in-congo-mostly-children/1011338/2 "2024-12-08T11:54:55Z")
I saw a short article somewhere about this but can’t remember the cite. I don’t think the researcher was able to figure out a cause or correlation yet in the article I read. I was trying to play your link but the volume’s bad on my phone; I know it’s not the link 😀 ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2024, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mysterious-respiratory-illness-kills-at-least-143-in-congo-mostly-children/1011338/3 "2024-12-08T17:58:02Z")
NPR story, in text, no video watching required: > **[How worried should we be about Disease X?](https://www.npr.org/sections/goats-and-soda/2024/12/05/g-s1-37002/disease-x-democratic-republic-congo)** > > An unidentified illness has claimed nearly 80 lives in DRC. Investigators are on the scene to determine what it is — and how much of a threat it poses locally and globally. ---
**Author:** ![Reply](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/reply/32/15952_2.png) [@Reply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reply)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2024, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mysterious-respiratory-illness-kills-at-least-143-in-congo-mostly-children/1011338/4 "2024-12-08T18:55:53Z")
Didn’t they make a novel and movie about this? ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2024, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mysterious-respiratory-illness-kills-at-least-143-in-congo-mostly-children/1011338/5 "2024-12-08T22:28:59Z")
Andromeda Strain? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2024, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mysterious-respiratory-illness-kills-at-least-143-in-congo-mostly-children/1011338/6 "2024-12-08T22:41:21Z")
> [@nearwildheaven](#): > > (My guess? It’s something that’s been here all along, and a bunch of cases popped up all at once.) Even the current outbreak started in at least October, but apparently it was and is still “undiagnosed” and they are still collecting samples and data. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2024, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mysterious-respiratory-illness-kills-at-least-143-in-congo-mostly-children/1011338/7 "2024-12-11T18:05:56Z")
This article suggests that it may be malaria related, and not a new disease. > **[Congo's Disease X: What we know – DW – 12/10/2024](https://www.dw.com/en/what-we-known-about-congo-mystery-illness/a-71005734)** > > An undiagnosed 'Disease X' is spreading in a remote region of the Democratic Republic of Congo. Can it be treated? ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2024, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mysterious-respiratory-illness-kills-at-least-143-in-congo-mostly-children/1011338/8 "2024-12-12T00:41:45Z")
Thanks for the update! That’s what I suspected it probably is, although we don’t have all the information yet. ---
**Author:** ![Reply](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/reply/32/15952_2.png) [@Reply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reply)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2024, 12:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mysterious-respiratory-illness-kills-at-least-143-in-congo-mostly-children/1011338/9 "2024-12-12T12:31:36Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > Andromeda Strain? Lol 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2024, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mysterious-respiratory-illness-kills-at-least-143-in-congo-mostly-children/1011338/10 "2024-12-13T01:35:54Z")
When a COVID strain was dubbed Arcturus, I heard more than once, “I’m glad it wasn’t called the Andromeda Strain!”