Source: Press TV
At least 18 people have been
killed in a southeastern Nigerian town due to a "mysterious"
disease which kills in less than 24 hours, government says.
"Twenty-three
people (were affected) and 18 deaths were recorded," AFP quoted the Ondo state health commissioner, Dayo Adeyanju, as
saying on Saturday.
Earlier
in the day a government
spokesman, Kayode Akinmade, had put the
number of casualties at 17, saying that the
mysterious disease broke out early this week in Ode-Irele town.
Akinmad added that all the victims
perished within a day of falling ill and that Ebola or any other known virus
has so far been ruled out as the cause by Laboratory tests, noting, "There
is no patient of the disease in any hospital and the disease has not spread
beyond the town."
He added that apart from government
experts and health officials, World Health Organization (WHO) epidemiologists
had also arrived in the town for further investigation.
WHO has confirmed having information on
14 cases and 12 deaths.
"Common symptoms were sudden
blurred vision, headache, loss of consciousness followed by death, occurring
within 24 hours," said WHO spokesman Tarik Jasarevic, adding that an
investigation was currently underway.
Urine, blood and cerebrospinal fluid
samples had been taken from victims, he added. "All
samples have been sent to Lagos University Teaching Hospital this morning, and
results are still pending. Investigations are still ongoing"
When News Breaks Out, We Break In. (The 2014 Bloggies Finalist)
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