Mystery illness kills over 50 people leaving health experts “really worried”

The outbreak began in January, with 419 cases being recorded so far.

The outbreak began in Boloko, a town in the northwest of DRC, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO).

In the majority of cases, the onset of symptoms to death has taken just 48 hours which is "really worrying", Serge Ngalebato, medical director of Bikoro Hospital, a regional monitoring centre explained.

According to reports, three children ate a bat and died after haemorrhagic fever symptoms.

Since the outbreak on January 21st, 419 cases have been recorded, with 53 deaths.

The town of Bomate saw a second outbreak on February 9th.

WHO have said that samples of the disease have been sent to the National Institute for Biomedical Research in the DRC's capital, Kinshasa.

So far, the samples have tested negative for Ebola, but have traces of malaria.

According to WHO, the number of these types of outbreaks have increased by 60% in Africa over the last decade.

Scientists have had concerns for a long time about diseases jumping from animals to humans in places where wild animals are eaten.