The World Health Organization announced today that it is sending experts to support health authorities in the Democratic Republic of the Congo in investigating an as yet undiagnosed disease that has emerged in a remote area of ​​the country.

WHO experts are on their way to the affected Panji district, a location in the southwestern province of Quang Ninh, where they will deliver much-needed medicine and diagnostic kits to help analyze the cause of the disease, which local authorities said has killed 143 people in November.

Laboratory tests are being conducted to determine the cause, the WHO said, adding that it will share more information as it becomes available.

Those infected with the disease showed flu-like symptoms, including high fever and severe headache, said Remy Sacchi, the vice governor of Quango province, and local health minister Apollinaire Yuba.

The situation is extremely alarming as the number of infected continues to rise, local civil society chief Seforien Mandja told Reuters.

A local epidemiologist stated that women and children have been most affected by this disease.