Health authorities in Solomon Islands are waiting for laboratory results to identify a mystery illness which has killed three people this month.
A statement from the National Referral Hospital published by Solomon Fresh-Beat onlinequotes the medical superintendent, Jagilly Rooney, as saying the cause of death for all three victims appears to be septicaemia.
Dr Rooney said blood samples have been sent overseas to try and determine what kind of toxins or bacteria caused the blood poisoning.
He said no outbreak has been declared given the low number of cases and the ten-day gap between the second and the third case.
The Ministry of Health says it is closely monitoring the situation and advises members of the public to seek immediate medical care if they have fever, are vomiting or experience a severe skin rash.
Last week the newspaper, the Solomon Star, reported that health authorities had also issued a public advisory over a possible meningococcal meningitis outbreak after the death of two children just after New Year's.
Photo: 123rf (Blood samples have been sent overseas to determine what has caused the illness).