A strange disease causes 15 Nigerians to die in a week

Health officials warned of a mysterious disease that left 15 people dead and dozens infected in less than a week.

All patients have general symptoms including vomiting, edema and diarrhea. The first case was recorded in late January in the state of Benue, southeast of the capital Abuja. As of Feb. 3, the disease affects the health of 104 people, according to state senator Abba Moro.

Nigerian health worker during the Ebola outbreak in 2014. (Image: Reuters).

Moro said many patients died after just 48 hours of infection. MPs called on the Ministry of Health to send experts to the center of the epidemic to learn more about the disease. The Nigerian Agency for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC) is also required to closely monitor its spread.

Speaking on Feb. 8, Health Minister Osagie Ehanire said it was a new disease , not Ebola or Lassa - the two pandemics that once struck West Africa. The disease is nothing like the outbreak of the corona virus outbreak in China.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has launched a hotline, supporting the people of this country to report new cases, to put the epidemic out quickly from the beginning.

Nigeria is a place where the health care system is limited. Ebola broke out in 2014, making 20 Nigerians infected, of which 8 died. Meanwhile, during the Lassa hemorrhagic fever outbreak, the country also recorded more than 90 deaths and 1,447 suspected people.