Severe malaria is a mysterious sickness in the Democratic Republic of Congo, according to health authorities.

“The confusion is finally solved. “It’s a case of severe malaria in the form of a respiratory illness,” the Ministry of Public Health stated in a statement, adding that starvation had debilitated the local people, making them more susceptible to disease. The statement stated that 592 cases have been registered since October, with a death rate of 6.2%. Apollinaire Yumba, the provincial health minister, told Reuters that World Health Organization-provided anti-malaria medicine was being delivered in the Panzi health zone’s main hospital and health centers.