More than 50 people have died in two clusters of illness cases with unknown cause in northwest Democratic Republic of Congo, the WHO said on Tuesday.

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 the village of Boloko, in the Democratic Republic of Congo ( DRC ), after three children ate a dead bat, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO) Africa office.

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),

Over 50 deaths have been linked to an "unknown disease" in the Democratic Republic of Congo since January. Nearly half occurred within 48 hours of the symptoms' start.

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.