The CDC is closely monitoring an "unknown disease” that has killed dozens in the Democratic Republic of Congo, the agency said in a statement 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.

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

The fast-spreading mystery illness has killed scores of people, with nearly half dying within 48 hours of showing symptoms, the World Health Organization said.

Is a new virus causing a disease outbreak and deaths in the Democratic Republic of Congo, or is the cause already known to science?

Reports of a large number of unexplained illnesses and deaths in Equateur province have garnered international attention, likely in part because this region of DRC has had several Ebola outbreaks in recent years.