Ghana Health Service issues Ebola alert

The Ghana Health Service (GHS) says it has received confirmation of seven cases with three fatalities of Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) in Guinea.

The Service has, therefore, informed all Regional Directors, Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) of Teaching Hospitals and all stakeholders in the health sector to be on high alert.

The Director-General of GHS, Dr Patrick Kuma-Aboagye, in a letter to the Regional Directors and CEOs of Teaching Hospitals, asked all regional, districts and other health facilities to quickly initiate preparedness and response plans for EVD.

“All Regional and District Public Health Emergency Management Committees should include EVD on their agenda,” it said.

The letter said all regions, districts, health facilities, port health units at all border posts, particularly along the Western border and all landing beaches must heighten surveillance for EVD using the standard case definition.

It tasked the Committees to educate the populace on how to protect themselves from the disease.

The letter asked the public to avoid contacts with blood and body fluids such as urine, saliva, sweat, faeces, vomit, breast milk and semen of people who showed any symptoms of the virus.

It encouraged them to wash hands with soap under running water frequently or use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer.

It said it was also important that people stayed away from handling items that may have come into contacts with infected persons’ blood or body fluids.

The letter also advised the public to avoid contacts with dead bodies, including participating in funeral or burial rituals of suspected or confirmed Ebola cases.

The public is also advised to avoid contacts with animals such as bats or monkeys or with raw or undercooked bush meat.

It advised that individuals sought medical care immediately at the nearest health facility if unwell, record body temperature of 38 degrees celcius , severe headache, fatigue , muscle pain, vomiting, diarrhea, stomach pain, or unexplained bleeding or bruising.

“We are to take note and remind the general public that, under no circumstance should public or private transport be used in transporting a suspected EVD case,” the letter, said.

Ebola Virus Disease is a severe, often fatal illness in humans caused by the Ebola virus.

The virus is transmitted to people from wild animals and spreads in the human population through human-to-human transmission.

It can be transmitted through human contacts with body fluids of a person infected with the virus.