The Ghana Health Service (GHS) on Thursday, July 28, 2022, confirmed one more positive case of the deadly Marburg virus, bringing the total number of infections to three.
The director-general of the GHS, Dr Patrick Kuma-Aboagye in a statement said 116 contacts have so far completed their “mandatory 21-day” isolation.
The Ghana Health Service said the cases were recorded from four cases reported on Sunday, 25 July 2022, following test results from the Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research (NMIMR).
“The second case, a 51-year-old male with a known chronic disease and not linked to the first case was, however, awaiting re-testing Repeat lest results received from NMIMR on 28 July 2022 were negative for MVD, bringing the total number of confirmed cases to three (3). All three cases are related (father, mother, and son).
“Initially,118 contacts were identified and followed up including the two who later tested positive (Case 2 and Case 3). The remaining 116 contacts have completed the mandatory 21-day follow-up and are all well,” the statement noted.
It added that “Sixteen contacts, including healthcare workers, have been randomly tested and are all negative.”
However, a new set of 81 contacts for Case 2 and Case 3 are currently under follow-up with efforts made to identify additional contacts if any.
The Ghana Health Service continues that it has exhibited commitment in demonstrating its capacity to respond to public health emergencies.
“The Service remains committed to protecting the health of Ghana’s population and will continue to implement measures to attain and maintain this.
“Our resilient health system has been responsible for the early detection of and prompt response to outbreaks including the current MVD.”
The Service wishes to assure the general public that all efforts are being made to prevent any further spread of cases and encourage all persons to report to the nearest health facility if unwell for appropriate care.
