The Director General of the Ghana Health Service, Dr. Patrick Kuma-Aboagye, has declared that people who live in and around excessive illegal small-scale mining (galamsey) operational areas, are more prone to Marburg virus.
Speaking on Accra-based 3FM, he explained that the Marburg Virus can be spread by bats and most of the bats live in caves in mining areas.
Dr. Aboagye therefore, educated the public on the outbreak of the Marburg virus and warned the residents who lived at illegal mining places to be extra mindful since they are very susceptible to the disease.
“The cases were found in an area where there is illegal mining and where there are caves and bats like to stay in caves so we have to also look at the environmental factors,” he advised.
So far, Ghana Health Service has confirmed that three people have died from Marburg virus related symptoms and 11 people out of the number of quarantined persons are health workers.
