Mysterious illnesses are killing people all around Africa. The latest being from Burundi where people just died from unknown causes.

Posted by reborndead@reddit | collapse | View on Reddit | 49 comments

Sub statement: An outbreak of a mystery illness in Burundi has killed at least five people and sickened 35 others since March 30. It has a case-fatality rate of 14%. Patients tested negative for more than 200 pathogens which includes Ebola and Marburg virus diseases, Rift Valley fever, yellow fever, and Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever. The source of illness is unknown.

At the end of 2025, a mysterious illness in South Sudan that has killed nearly 100 people. https://abcnews.com/Health/investigating-mysterious-illness-south-sudan-killed-100-people/story?id=81913388 Deaths have mostly been reported among the elderly and children ages 1 to 14. Again, the samples returned negative for the infectious bacterial disease, so the source of deaths are unknown.

In Congo, an unknown disease outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo began on Jan. 21, with 419 cases recorded and 53 deaths. https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/illness-kill-50-democratic-republic-congo-rcna193788 Again samples from 13 cases have tested negative for known pathogens.

In Nigeria, the government has warned of a “strange epidemic” which has left 15 people dead and infected dozens more in less than a week in February. https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/africa/nigeria-disease-mystery-virus-deaths-benue-state-abba-moro-a9325806.html Samples from cases have tested negative for known pathogens.

This happened within the last 6 months and mysterious illnesses are breaking out as we speak. While these events may not be worth a panic at the moment, but it is quite alarming to see cases of unknown illnesses rising. Collapse related due to the possibility of mysterious illnesses escaping Africa and spreading like Covid did.

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DesignerBulky7711@reddit

Could it be a fungus? A lot of these places are experiencing war and genocide. The displacement, unsanitary conditions and murder will cause diseases to spread.

BeardedGlass@reddit

I heard that climate change has been able to change human’s core body temperature.

Thus making it possible for fungi to finally infect people.

Howwasitforyou@reddit

It is more a case that fungi are getting used to warmer temperatures, so they never used to be able to thrive in human bodies because we were too warm.

HomoExtinctisus@reddit

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/377805302_Mushroom_Sprouting_out_of_a_Living_Frog

GalacticCrescent@reddit

ohh that's not good

RichieLT@reddit

The opening to the last of us springs to mind.

Smashed-Melon@reddit

It's not changing our core temp. It allows fungus to evolve the ability to survive our core temp.

Estuans@reddit

This fungus better be prepared to survive my core temperature when I bike outside when it's 35c with 100% humidity. Last time I did an hour ride I had to stop by a 711 and just stick a bottle under my arm pit and groin and waited like 30 minutes before feeling normal.

FrankenGretchen@reddit

Start studying, brotha. You bout to be Legion.

thehomeyskater@reddit

You’re going to be the omega man.

That japan summer ain't no joke. Right now just suffering from the insane pollen right now :(

kingtacticool@reddit

HommeMusical@reddit

This is not so.

Indeed, median human body temperature has slightly decreased in modern times.

K1llrzzZ@reddit

Did you hear it in the opening scene of Last of Us TV show?

Djcnote@reddit

Duh

stasi_a@reddit

That doesn’t sound like what a fun guy does

Liz600@reddit

Climate change isn’t changing our body temps, but it is true that the average human body temperature has decreased over the last 200 years. That’s likely due to better health care and living conditions overall

BuzzINGUS@reddit

There’s a fungus among us!

You should listen to the radiolab podcast to understand how we are all dumber having read your comment. 😊

visforvillian@reddit

Symptoms include fever, headache, diarrhea, dark urine and vomiting. That doesn't really sound like a fungal infection. The pathogenic fungi cause dermal infections, respiratory infections, candidiasis and rarely meningitis or sepsis. This sounds more like an enteric infection spread through poor living conditions like Salmonella, Shigella, E coli, or an enteric virus.

Agreed; could also be renal.

ImTallerInPerson@reddit

It’s probably mostly zoonotic honestly. Around 75% of all new or emerging infectious diseases in people originate in animals.

Sudan for example has one of the largest livestocks in all of Africa. Standards are declining everywhere all while they increase production. I’d imagine the extra heat helps cause some really bad environments

BitchfulThinking@reddit

Not to mention all the new mining and industrialization going on over there. There was a devastating toxic river spill in Zambia last year from mining operations.

nickersb83@reddit

This has happened in Australia, construction on roads in Far North Qld unearthed pathogens which the spread through floods to populated areas

DensePoser@reddit

https://abcnews.com/US/fbi-investigating-biological-lab-operating-inside-las-vegas/story?id=129763459

Sigh. Time for another dive in the Epstein files...

madrid987@reddit

It is strange that Africa, where such strange diseases frequently originate, is not globalized like China.

DaisyHotCakes@reddit

China has been pouring money and resources into several African countries for mining for decades. Whenever they push back the wilderness that is still present new diseases emerge. Evidently that general area around Burundi has produced some horrifying hemorrhagic diseases like Marburg and Ebola. Also HIV is thought to have come from that region. It’s a bit scary when you hear about stuff like this. Ebola terrified (and fascinated) me as a kid and now to have gone through Covid I’m on alert..

gtinmia@reddit

More than 2 months old and nothing new in the case. Don’t waste your time reading it.

Life_Instruction1900@reddit

Well, someone's in there.

Baconslayer1@reddit

How much above background levels is this? There are similar events that have happened before and never spread, but i have no idea if they're this frequent

ShyElf@reddit

It's a fairly normal number of incidents. It's hard to say if it's concerning until we know what they are. 3-6 months to figure that has long been normal, although I'd think they'd be getting quicker with technology improvement. They haven't put enough information in the press release to really rule out the standard famine immunosuppression + dysentery from contaminated water or food poisoning. Obviously they wouldn't be posting like that if they thought that was what it was, but they aren't sure it isn't something reasonably common.

With all the right-wing driven contribution declines, the whole international aid system is considerably overloaded. We've had years of White Nile floods, some big Sahel floods, and some serious droughts in Ethiopia/South Sudan, and it's turned into wars and transportation system breakdowns. So, if feels significantly less likely than it used to that if there were something big getting started that we'd know about it.

Big-Yesterday586@reddit

That's what I'd like to know as well.

Nazirul_Takashi@reddit

If everyone's treatment towards Chinese people during Covid is any indication...

God help every Black people if this become a global pandemic...

whatThePleb@reddit

china doing some testing again.

Lo-weorold@reddit

Hey OP, post this over in a sub called /r/contagioncuriosity. I bet they would like to see this.

reborndead@reddit (OP)

this needs to be higher

Oh what fresh hell is this

It's happening