Marburg, Ebola scare hit Ghana as GHS heightens Border Surveillance

The Ghana Health Service (GHS) has heightened border surveillance and health screening of entrants into Ghana, following confirmed cases of Marburg and Ebola diseases in neighbouring Guinea and Cote d’Ivoire respectively.

The GHS said it can diagnose both Marburg and Ebola diseases.

Some symptoms of the diseases include haemorrhaging fever, nausea, jaundice, abdominal pains, vomiting, sore throat and headaches.

The Service had activated an epidemic preparedness and response system since the onset of the Coronavirus disease and had intensified public education and sensitization on Marburg and Ebola diseases as well.

Dr Patrick Kuma-Aboagye, the Director-General of GHS, who announced this at the Minister’s briefing in Accra, said the Service had sent red alert messages to its regional offices to intensify border surveillance.

Additionally, it was collaborating with the Ghana Immigration Service and other border agencies to track and stop illegal entrants into the country.

Dr Kuma-Aboagye said there was no approved vaccine or antiviral treatment for the Marburg Virus Disease, which has haemorrhaging fever as one of its major features.

On the Covid-19 situation in Ghana, Dr Kuma-Aboagye said the daily average cases was declining, hovering around 400, with active cases dropping from 8,000 at the peak period to 6,000.

However, he said, people were still not observing the safety protocols and called for enforcement.

He attributed the decline in covid-19 cases to the ongoing mass vaccination exercise in hotspots communities, including Accra and Kumasi metropolitan areas.

Currently, 1.53 million tests had been conducted with 111,232 confirmed positive cases, 104,298 recoveries and 930 deaths.

Dr Kuma-Aboagye said the Johnson & Johnson vaccines were being administered in 11 districts in hotspots areas in the Greater Accra and Ashanti regions.

The GHS Boss announced that 600,000 AstraZeneca vaccines would arrive in the country in the next two weeks while 1.3 million doses of Pfizer and 1.2 million Moderna vaccines were expected very soon.

He cautioned those who had already taken the AstraZeneca vaccines not to join the ongoing Johnson & Johnson vaccination programme since the Service cannot guarantee the safety of the mixture of two different vaccines.