Ghana Health Service issues Ebola alert following DRC outbreak

The Ghana Health Service has issued an Ebola alert following an outbreak in the north-eastern part of the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Congolese health authorities say at least seventeen people have died from Ebola so far.

Outlining measures authorities had put in place to avert an outbreak in Ghana, a Deputy Public Relations Officer at the Ghana Health Service, Douglas Forkuo, said: “We have been able to issue the statement to the media to make sure that we educate the public on the means or ways that the Ebola infection comes or spreads from one person to the other. We have also sent an alert to all the regional directors and Chief Executives of hospitals and all other relevant institutions.”

‘Report cholera cases’

He also outlined measures they had in place to avert Cholera outbreak and advised the public to report such cases to the nearest hospitals.

“We have started engaging in public education, and as we speak, we have also started circulating some of our materials on the means and ways by which cholera transmits, and the ways in which we can prevent it. It is just not about the alert, but we trying to educate the public so much to the extent that we can ensure good practices.”

About Ebola

Ebola disease is a viral hemorrhagic fever  caused by Ebola virus.

Signs and symptoms typically start between two days and three weeks after contracting the virus with a fever, sore throat, muscular pain and headaches.

The disease has a high risk of killing between 25 and 90 percent of those infected, due to low blood pressure from fluid loss, and typically follows six to sixteen days after symptoms appear.

Prevention includes limiting the spread of the disease from infected animals to humans.

This may be done by handling potentially infected bushmeat only while wearing protective clothing and by thoroughly cooking it before eating it.

It also includes wearing proper protective clothing and washing hands when around a person with the disease.

Ebola in DRC

Outbreaks of Ebola have only occurred two dozen times since Ebola first was recognized in the DRC in 1976; this is the ninth outbreak to emerge in the DRC.

They typically are contained by infectious disease control methods, but a West African epidemic exploded in 2014, sickening more than 28,000 people and killing 11,000 before it ended.

An Ebola vaccine that worked well in a clinical trial in Guinea held in 2015, has yet to be approved by regulatory authorities but could be used under emergency protocols.

This is the ninth outbreak of the hemorrhagic fever in Congo since 1976.

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By: Marian Ansah/citinewsroom.com/Ghana

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