Death toll rises to 8 as strange illness spreads in Liberia

The death toll of a "strange illness" that hit Liberia's southeastern Sinoe county has so far risen to eight, Liberian authorities confirmed on Tuesday.

Health Ministry spokesman Sorbor George told reporters late Tuesday that the eighth patient died at a hospital in the county's capital of Greenville.

Five other victims of the yet-to-be identified illness have been hospitalized, George added.

On Tuesday, local media reported that all the victims suffered severe stomach pain before succumbing to death, adding that health authorities in the county had already isolated all those who had contact with the dead.

The Health Ministry said blood specimens from the deceased had been sent to a medical laboratory to ascertain the cause of their death and identify the disease itself.

Also on Tuesday, an emergency meeting of health officials was called to discuss "the strange deaths."

The ministry said that a press conference will be held on Wednesday to publish government intervention plans.

Liberia was in 2014 struck by Ebola, which claimed about 4,500 lives in the country alone. Endi