July 8. (EUROPA PRESS) –
Ghanaian authorities have confirmed two suspected cases of the Ebola-like Marburg virus, marking the first in the country and the second in West Africa, after the one detected last year in Guinea.
The Director General of the Ghana Health Service, Patrick Kuma-Aboagye, said: “The disease was suspected after the identification of two individuals meeting the definition of acute haemorrhagic fever in two separate locations in the Ashanti region. “.
“The preliminary results suggest that the infection is due to the Marburg virus. The samples have been sent for confirmation at the Pasteur Institute in Dakar, Senegal, with the support of the World Health Organization (WHO),” he pointed out.
Likewise, Kuma-Aboagye has indicated that a total of 34 contacts of the patients – both deceased – “have been identified and are under quarantine and being supervised at the Ashanti Regional Directorate of Health”, before demanding that the population go to a doctor if you have symptoms of the disease.
For his part, the WHO representative in Ghana, Francis Kasolo, pointed out that “health authorities are on the ground investigating the situation and preparing for a response to a possible outbreak.”
“We are working closely to increase detection, trace contacts and be prepared to control the spread of the virus,” he said, stressing that the WHO is deploying experts to support the Ghanaian authorities in these efforts.
Virus symptoms include headache, vomiting blood, and muscle aches. The disease is spread through contact with infected blood or other body fluids and tissues. There are no approved vaccines or antiviral treatments to treat the virus.
In Africa, previous outbreaks and sporadic cases have been reported in Angola, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Kenya, South Africa, and Uganda, in addition to the case detected in August 2021 in Gueckedou prefecture in southern Guinea.
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