Disease of Unknown Origin Kills 18 People in Nigeria

Abuja, Apr 20 (Prensa Latina) A total of 18 people died until the weekend in Ondo State, southern Nigeria, by an unknown disease, said the health official Abdulrahman Nasidi.

The symptoms of the deadly disease, which starts with blindness and headache, may be related to herbicide poisoning, said the official, who is in charge of the National Center for Disease Control, according to the newspaper from the capital Premium Times.

Thus are denied speculation from Ondo religious leaders, who said that the origin of the sudden death is associated with the sacrilege to a local deity, published the Nigerian newspaper This Day.

Experts from the World Health Organization (WHO) said that the dead were not infected with Ebola Hemorrhagic Fever virus (EHF), said the newspaper.