The Democratic Republic of the Congo has declared an outbreak of meningitis in the north-eastern Tshopo Province where 261 suspected cases and 129 deaths—a high case fatality ratio of 50 per cent —have been reported.

The World Health Organization has noted that tests carried out by the Institut Pasteur in Paris detected one of the most common types of the bacteria, Neisseria meningitides, which has the potential to cause large epidemics.

An investigation in early June near Panga, around 270 kilometres north of the city of Kisangani, found patients suffering from fever, headaches, stiff neck, and difficulty speaking, said health minister, Jean-Jacques Mbungani.

Meningitis is transmitted by kissing, sneezing or coughing on someone, or living in close quarters with an infected person.

People of all ages can catch the disease, but it mainly affects babies, children and young people.

“Meningitis is a serious infection and a major public health challenge, ” said Matshidiso Moeti, WHO regional director for Africa.

“We are moving fast, delivering medicines and deploying experts to support the government’s efforts to bring the outbreak under control in the shortest possible time.”

Congo has experienced several outbreaks in the past, including one in 2009 that infected 214 people and caused 15 deaths- a case fatality ratio of eight per cent according to the WHO.

Along with being battered by years of armed conflict, graft and underfunding, Congo’s creaking health system has in the last four years fought four Ebola outbreaks, endemic cholera and measles, bubonic plague and the COVID-19 pandemic.