More die as mysterious illness spreads to Liberia

Monrovia : More people have died following the outbreak of a mysterious illness that began in southeastern Liberia but has spread to the capital, with 12 unexplained deaths so far, health authorities told AFP Tuesday.

Liberia's health ministry and the World Health Organization (WHO) both confirmed a revised death toll from Friday, with a ministry spokesman, Sorbor George, saying the illness first registered in Sinoe County was now present in Monrovia.

"The illness has entered the capital. A man came from Sinoe to attend a funeral in Monrovia and he got sick. He shows the same symptoms, later on he died," George said. 

"After he died his girlfriend got sick showing the same symptoms, she died also," he added.

The Liberian government had given a death toll of nine on Friday, while the WHO had said 11.

The WHO raised the total number of confirmed total cases to 25, from 19 on Friday, and said the "majority" related to the funeral of a religious leader in Sinoe County. Cases started being registered on April 23.

The agency has confirmed that the illness is not Ebola, the haemorrhagic fever that killed thousands in a recent west African epidemic, despite some similar symptoms, nor is it Lassa fever, a virus also present in the region.