A "mysterious" disease has killed at least 18 people in the past several days in south-western Nigeria, local officials say. 
 
 The outbreak started in the Ode-Irele town, Ondo state, and spread rapidly. 
 
 The disease - characterised by blurred vision, headache and loss of consciousness - killed the victims within 24 hours of falling ill. 
 
 Local health officials and World Health Organization experts are now in the town to try to identify the disease. 
 
 Laboratory tests have so far ruled out Ebola or any other virus, Ondo government spokesman Kayode Akinmade was quoted as saying by the AFP news agency. 
 
 He described the illness as "mysterious". 
 
 WHO spokesman Gregory Hartl told AFP that all of those affected started showing symptoms between 13-15 April. 
 
 The unidentified disease appears to be attacking the central nervous system, state health commissioner Dayo Adeyanju told Nigeria's Premium Times. ||||| Related News 
 
 The Ondo State Government says a strange disease that has killed over a dozen people since its outbreak on April 15 in Ode-Irele, Irele Local Government Area of the state, is not contagious and could be a result of ethanol poisoning. 
 
 The Commissioner for Health in the state, Dayo Adeyanju, stated this on Sunday at a news conference in Akure. 
 
 He said findings from post-mortem carried out on the victims and other laboratory tests revealed that the disease was neither epidemic nor contagious. 
 
 According to the commissioner, preliminary report showed ethanol poison found in the systems of all the victims. 
 
 “Our investigations revealed that the victims, who are commercial motorcyclists, gathered at some local joints to take alcoholic substance mixed with roots and some other local herbs on the eve of the outbreak of the disease. 
 
 “I can assure you that the disease is in no way contagious. The fact that none of the caregivers has contracted the disease has greatly underscored this point. 
 
 “Therefore, the fear of spread does not arise and should be discouraged. 
 
 “We strongly suspect ethanol poison and in view of this, we have ordered for another toxicology test for surviving victims,” Mr. Adeyanju said. 
 
 Ebola Alert, an evidence-driven group of volunteer professionals who helped with the Ebola Virus Disease interventions in Nigeria, had said on Friday that samples taken from victims and tested in a laboratory in Lagos tested negative to Ebola and five other deadly diseases. 
 
 “#OndoX samples tests negative for Ebola Virus, Yellow Fever, Lassa Fever Virus, Rift Valley Fever Virus, Dengue Virus, West Nile Virus,” the organisation said. 
 
 The Ondo commissioner, who said that there had been no report of new cases in the last three days, explained that 18 out of the 23 people affected have died. 
 
 He said the five survivors, who have currently gone blind, have been referred to the University Teaching Hospital, Ibadan, for further examination and monitoring. 
 
 Mr. Adeyanju said he would not join issues with traditionalists who believe that the outbreak of the disease was because some youth stole from shrine of some gods. 
 
 The commissioner, however, said that the dead would be buried in body bags to curtail any spread of the disease. 
 
 (NAN)
– A mystery illness has claimed at least 18 lives over the past few days in Nigeria, killing victims within a mere 24 hours of infection, the BBC reports. Health officials are scrambling to identify the illness—which is not Ebola or any other known virus—but have concluded that it's not contagious. Symptoms include headaches, blurred vision, and loss of consciousness. One theory is that it's ethanol poisoning from drinking home-made booze, the Premium Times of Nigeria reports. The victims, who are "commercial motorcyclists," fell ill after stopping at "local joints to take [an] alcoholic substance," says a health official. The drink was "mixed with roots and some other local herbs on the eve of the outbreak of the disease," he adds. Officials now plan to test that theory by giving toxicology tests to the five surviving victims.