Ghana on Zika alert

The Ministry of Health is on high alert and has instituted measures for public education and prevention of the Zika virus, which has been declared a global public health emergency by the World Health Organization (WHO).

The microcephaly condition is connected to a mosquito-borne virus and responsible for underdeveloped brains.

The most recent case was in a pregnant woman, who returned from a trip from Colombia and tested positive on her return to Spain. Countries affected, so far, include Brazil, America, Australia and Ireland.

A rare case of the virus being transmitted through sex, rather than a mosquito bite, has been reported in the United States of America.

Ghana has started taking measures to ensure that the disease is prevented from getting into the country, as Public Relations Officer of the Ghana Health Service (GHS), Tony Goodman indicated to Class News’ Nabil Ahmed Rufai on Thursday, 4 February 2016 that public sensitisation has begun.

“This disease is not around Africa and Ghana, but far away in the southern part of America, but we are just putting precautionary measures to make sure our people are safe,” he revealed.

According to Mr Goodman, “documents have been developed for the various regions and districts. Case definition has been developed and then it has been sent to various communities. Documents have also been put together for the media and the general public”.

The Ministry, he said, has instituted various interventions with heightened alert at the country’s borders, especially, to make sure that any of such cases are detected and prevented from getting into the country.

“We have started preventive measures to make sure that it is not in the country. When somebody is coming and presenting symptoms of such nature, we quickly try to look at it and avoid it. The various borders have been informed, and we have given them what they should be looking out for, to deal with the situation,” he said.

Ghana is currently battling an outbreak of different strains of Meningitis: Pneumococcal, Meningococcal and Cerebrospinal, which have killed 85 so far and stricken close to 600 people nationwide.