A total of 40 people have been quarantined in the Savannah Region over the deadly Marburg virus. One more person has died from the disease as well.
The patient who died was reported to be a relative of the two patients who had died in June after reporting to the hospital with haemorrhagic fever.
According to the Director General of the Ghana Health Service, Dr Patrick Kuma-Aboagye, initial tests conducted on the patient at the time of visit to the hospital showed positive results.
However, it was after the incubation period for the virus had elapsed.
“Unfortunately, one close contact reported symptoms after the maximum 21-day incubation period and died on July 21. These are very close relatives, so we have taken samples, and we are following up on them. Their initial test came out positive because of their close contact, and we have identified additional 40 contacts where the incident occurred, so we are still monitoring” said Dr Patrick Kuma-Aboagye.
Meanwhile, the Ghana Medical Association has appealed for help in the fight to contain the virus in the region.
According to the General Secretary of the Association, Dr Titus Beyuo, the fight against the disease is a collective effort.
“Locally, the contact tracing has been efficient. They’ve identified most of the people. We want to use this opportunity to appeal to other people who may be connected to this case to volunteer information so that the contact tracing can be completed.
“We are not sure of the primary source of this infection. So, because of these unanswered questions, we would ask that persons who have symptoms of fever, bleeding, bloody diarrhoea or bleeding from any part of the body other than that which is already known and expected to report to the healthcare system so that we can quickly contain the situation” Dr Beyuo said in an interview with Citi News.
The Marburg disease is caused by the Marburg virus, a rare but severe haemorrhagic fever that affects both humans and non-human primates and fruit bats are natural hosts of Marburg virus.
The virus is said to be transmitted from animals to humans and spread from human-to-human transmission from direct contact with body fluids blood and other discharges from the affected person/animal. The incubation period for the disease is two to 21 days.
