The minister of health in Liberia has stated that the medical samples from four of the victims of a disease in the country that initially baffled scientists have tested positive for a type of meningitis.

A total of 31 cases of the initially suspected mystery illness have been reported, including 13 deaths in an outbreak linked to the attendance of a religious leader’s funeral.

While the symptoms are different from Ebola, the sudden deaths nevertheless stirred anxiety about an outbreak of the tropical illness which was often spread through burial rituals in the West African epidemic that ended less than a year ago.

Seven specimens from the deceased tested positive for Neisseria meningitis, a particularly contagious type of bacteria, Dr Bernice Dahn told reporters.

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