More than 50 people have died in two clusters of unknown illnesses in northwest Democratic Republic of Congo, global health authorities said.

MONUSCO, the U.N. peacekeeping force in the DRC, said the reported killings were under investigation but remained unverified.

An unknown disease that poses a ‘significant public health threat’ has already killed more than 50 people. The disease started on January 21 in Boloko, in the Democratic Republic of Congo ( DRC ), after three children ate a dead bat, according to the World Health Organisation (WHOs) Africa office.

KINSHASA — An unknown illness has killed over 50 people in northwestern Congo, according to doctors on the ground and the World Health Organization on Monday.

World Health Organization officials said the outbreak appeared to originate from a village where three children died after reportedly eating a bat carcass.

At least 50 people have died from a mystery illness discovered in three children who ate a dead bat, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). Newsweek has contacted the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC),

The disease, which has infected more than 400 people and killed 53 within a few weeks, “poses a significant public health threat,” the World Health Organization said.

The outbreak has been traced, tentatively, to three children who ate a bat, the W.H.O. said, and known threats like Ebola and Marburg have been ruled out.