A Professor of Clinical Epidemiology, School of Public Health, University of Health and Allied Sciences, Ho, Fred Binka has called for increased surveillance following the outbreak of Monkeypox and Marburg in Ghana.
He called on authorities to expedite contact racing, blood sampling and testing before the situation gets out of hands.
Speaking on the Key Points on TV3 Saturday August 6, Prof Binkah said “we need to do active surveillance to find out how many people have been exposed.”
“We have to blanket the area, do blood sampling and check who has come into contact, there are many people people who have come into contact with those infected, we need to identify them,” he added.
The General Secretary of the Ghana Medical Association (GMA), Dr Titus Beyuo also said public education on the Marburg and Monkeypox outbreaks in Ghana must be taken a step higher.
Apart from the public education, he said, the infection must be contained immediately in the areas that have been detected in order to avoid spread.
He said on the same show that “public education is needed, let’s contain it where it is, do the necessary contact tracing, provide the personal protective equipment.”
He added “Covid spreads easily than Marburg, but we must keep our eyes on all. Monkeypox spread like Covid but not as deadly.”
Ghana has recorded its first death of Monkeypox since the outbreak of the disease in the country.
The case, confirmed in the Upper East Region on Friday, July 22, tested positive at the Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research (NMIMR) after suspicion.
“This is the first confirmed case in the region,” Upper East Regional Director of Health Services Dr. Emmanuel Kofi Dzotsi said in a statement over the weekend.
“The confirmed case was seen on the 22nd July, 2022 at the Upper East Regional Hospital, with a history of fever and skin rash.
“Unfortunately, the [patient] died on 26th July 2022.
“Samples were taken on the 22nd of July 2022 for confirmation at the Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research in Accra. We received feedback on the 28th of July, 2022, indicating the sample tested positive for the Monkeypox disease.”
By Laud Nartey|3news.com|Ghana