Vietnam’s health authorities are going to remain vigilant against a ‘mysterious disease outbreak’ causing hundreds of deaths in the Democratic Republic of Congo even though the Congolese health authorities have confirmed it as malaria.

On Tuesday, the Congolese Ministry of Health reported that the mystery had finally been solved.

“It's a case of severe malaria in the form of a respiratory illness,” it said.

Unfortunately, malnutrition in the affected area has weakened the local population, leaving them more vulnerable to this disease, which is already responsible for hundreds of deaths.

This confirmation came amid the Vietnamese health sector’s efforts to prepare for coping with the ailment previously described as a ‘fatal mysterious disease.'

The General Department of Preventive Medicine will continue to monitor the situation and coordinate with the World Health Organization (WHO), as well as other international partners, to share updates and assessments related to the illness outbreak and take appropriate measures, the Vietnam News Agency reported.

Meanwhile, the Hanoi Center for Disease Control has tightened remote health monitoring for passengers at Noi Bai International Airport in the Vietnamese capital to detect signs of the illness.

The same preventive measures are in place in Ho Chi Minh City, where an international health quarantine team is stationed at the airport and seaports to monitor and block potential pathogens from entering the city.

According to the city’s Department of Health, there are no direct flights connecting Vietnam and Congo.

Passengers traveling from the African country must transit through other countries in Europe, Asia, or the Middle East before reaching Vietnam.

The department has directed the municipal Center for Disease Control to keep a close watch on the outbreak in Congo and make all necessary preparations for them to respond timely to any developments.

Earlier this month, Congolese authorities reported that the disease had killed 143 people in Kwango Province in November, with patients having symptoms like fever, headache, cough, runny nose, and body aches.

The serious situation has prompted the WHO to raise an alarm against the outbreak and send a team of investigators to the African country. 

There have been 592 cases recorded since October, with a fatality rate of 6.2 percent, according to the WHO statement. 

Last week, WHO director general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said that ten early samples from Congolese patients had tested positive for malaria.

However, Ghebreyesus added that he had not ruled out the possibility that these patients suffered from other concurrent diseases.

Malaria takes nearly 600,000 lives a year worldwide, and 12 percent of those deaths occur in Congo, according to the Guardian.

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