NBC News | "Mysterious illness in Congo has killed dozens of people, health authorities report"

"Health officials in the Democratic Republic of Congo are racing to try to identify the cause of a mysterious, flu-like illness that has sickened 376 people and left 79 dead in that country."

NBC News spoke with Dr. Anne Rimoin, professor of epidemiology at the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health "who has worked in Congo since 2002, said such efforts may be complicated by a weak health care infrastructure and underlying health issues in some Congo residents, including malaria and malnutrition.

'I think it’s really important to be aware of what’s happening, and I think it’s also really important not to panic until we have more information,' she told NBC News.

'It could be anything,' she added. 'It could be influenza, it could be Ebola, it could be Marburg, it could be meningitis, it could be measles. At this point, we really just don’t know.'

Other health authorities have said they are working with Congo officials to try to identify the disease causing the outbreak.

World Health Organization spokesperson Tarik Jašarević told NBC News that 'we have dispatched a team to the remote area to collect samples for lab investigations.'"

LINK to NBC News article