Out of 419 cases, 53 people have died, said the Africa office of the WHO on Monday.

A mysterious illness has sparked concerns after more than 50 people in northwestern Congo died over the past five weeks. According to health experts, the unknown disease was first discovered in three children who ate a bat.

Medical experts call the situation “worrying” as the interval between the onset of symptoms and death has been just 48 hours in most cases.

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Symptoms of the unknown disease include fever, vomiting, and internal bleeding.

Although these “hemorrhagic fever” symptoms are commonly linked to known deadly viruses like Ebola, dengue, Marburg, and yellow fever, researchers have ruled out these based on tests conducted in over a dozen samples collected so far.

The outbreak can be traced back to the village of Boloko, where three children ate a bat and died within 48 hours. The breakout began on January 21 with 419 cases recorded so far. Out of these, 53 people have died, said the Africa office of the World Health Organisation on Monday.

A second outbreak sprouted in the village of Bomate on February 9. Samples from 13 cases were sent to the National Institute for Biomedical Research in Kinshasa, the capital of Congo, for testing.

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All samples were negative for common hemorrhagic fever disease, but some came back positive for malaria, stated WHO.

The number of diseases spreading from animals to humans has increased by over 60 percent in the last decade, according to WHO in a 2022 report.