The Ghana Health Service (GHS) has recorded three cases of Marburg Viral Diseases in the country with one death.
However, the Institut Pasteur in Dakar, Senegal, a World Health Organisation’s specialised facility for viral diseases, has confirmed one Marburg case in Ghana after the GHS took the suspected cases there for quality assurance tests.
The other two suspected cases are yet to undergo quality assurance tests at the facility in Dakar.
Dr Patrick Kuma-Aboagye, Director-General of the GHS, giving an update on public health emergencies in Accra on Sunday, said the Marburg Viral Disease was a very risky viral hemorrhagic fever, with nine out of 10 infected persons likely to die, representing 90 per cent fatality rate.
He said Marburg was a member of the Ebola family but with a higher fatality rate than the latter. Affected persons experience high fever and bleeding from the nose. It could be contacted through body contact.
On June 26, 2022, the GHS identified Marburg Viral Disease as a suspected case of viral hemorrhagic fever whose date of onset was June 22, 2022.
The Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research confirmed the viral disease on July 7, 2022, and it was subsequently corroborated by the Institut Pasteur in Dakar, Senegal, on July 15, 2022.
So far, 118 contacts had been done in Ashanti, Western and Savannah regions, with all persons contacted undergoing a 21-day mandatory quarantine.
Forty additional contacts have been identified in the Ashanti Region and follow-up is being conducted.
The GHS Boss noted that Ghana was facing three public health emergencies-COVID-19, Marburg Viral Disease and Monkeypox.
The situation, he said, had stressed Ghana’s public health system with some health healthcare workers getting tired.
He indicated that early identification of any of the viral diseases was critical in preventing its spread among the population.
Therefore, the GHS had trained more health volunteers to undertake community surveillance to help in the identification of suspected infections to curb the potential spread.
Dr Kuma-Aboagye said although the Service occasionally experienced some logistical challenges, the Government and other international partners were supporting the GHS to contain the health emergencies.
He said the GHS had alerted all district offices of public health emergencies and intensified community engagements and risk communication across the country.
Dr Kuma-Aboagye underscored the need for all Ghanaians to observe hygiene and safety protocols to avoid contracting any of the three public health emergencies.
Meanwhile, Ghana had recorded 34 cases of Monkeypox disease which was first confirmed in Ghana on July 15, 2022.
Twenty of the cases were in the Greater Accra Region whilst the rest were in the Upper West, Bono and Bono East regions.
On the Covid-19 situation, Dr Kuma-Aboagye said the country was witnessing a downward trend of cases with 336 active cases and one severe case.
Source: Ghana News Agency
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