Worse than ebola? Mysterious, blindness-inducing illness claims 14 lives in Nigeria

In the past 10 days, an unidentified disease has claimed the lives of at least 14 people in a small community in the Nigerian state of Ondo. The illness is being described as “worse than Ebola” and causes blindness and loss of consciousness in patients before they eventually succumb to their ailment. Nigerian health officials are working to their best capacity to uncover the cause of the mysterious illness in an effort to prevent further cases.

Ondo State Health Commissioner Dayo Adeyanju announced that so far the only confirmed fact about the new illness is that it is not Ebola, “as it does not manifest any of its symptoms, but it attacks the central nervous system of the victims,” The Premium Times reported. It is unknown whether the disease is infectious or has bacterial or viral roots.

Currently, samples from the victims have been sent to a lab in the city of Lagos to help better understand the still unclear nature of the illness. To aid in any effort, Adeyanju has urged the public to report any strange illnesses to the authorities.

The infected, whose numbers have not yet been confirmed, are being quarantined at the General Hospital in Irele. As reported by The International Business Times, the World Health Organization has also been contacted to help identify the disease. A disease surveillance team and volunteers have been deployed to the affected area, and according to Adeyanju, the same protective gear and procedures used in Ebola patients are being used in the handling of the new disease. The state already has a cremation law in place and residents have been strongly urged to not touch the bodies of the deceased.

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