A mysterious illness outbreak that has sickened at least 416 people and killed 31 in a remote region of the Democratic Republic of Congo may be at least partly caused by malaria, health officials said Tuesday.

Authorities say the mystery flu-like illness that has killed dozens of people in southwest Congo in recent weeks might be malaria.

Since late October, a ‘mystery disease’ has infected more than 400 and killed dozens in a rural southern province of Africa’s Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC)

There's early evidence that a mysterious flu-like illness that has sickened 416 people and left 75 dead in the Democ

It is almost impossible to treat an illness like the Disease X that's spreading in DR Congo — medics don't even know whether it is a viral or bacterial infection. So far, the DRC has recorded 406 cases of the undiagnosed disease. Severe cases have been reported among severely malnourished people, including 31 deaths, mostly children.