GHS sends nationwide alert over Ebola

An Ebola staging post was set up in Ghana in 2014[/caption] The Ghana Health Service (GHS) has issued alerts to all its regional directors, chief executives of teaching hospitals as well as all relevant agencies and institutions across the country in the face of the outbreak of Ebola in DR Congo. The World Health Organisation (WHO) on Tuesday confirmed that two out of five samples collected from suspected patients in the central African country have tested positive for Ebola. READ: Ebola returns to DR Congo As a result, the Service has enhanced surveillance on the viral disease and even on other acute haemorrhagic fevers in general. Mechanisms have also been initiated to update on preparedness and response plans at all levels, according to a statement from the Service. Sensitisation of health staff and public awareness have also been heightened. The devastating outbreak of Ebola in West Africa in 2014 saw Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea losing more than 11,000 lives. There is still no cure to the disease. Some preventive measures are avoiding contact with infected wildlife such as monkeys, chimpanzee bats, porcupine, and antelope, avoiding contact with blood and other body fluids and discharges from an infected person using appropriate clothing and equipment and burying persons who die from Ebola by properly trained persons. Among the symptoms of the disease are sudden onset of fever, fatigue, muscle pain, headache, and sore throat. There are subsequent symptoms of vomiting, diarrhoea and rashes. Late signs include bleeding tendencies like gum bleeding, bleeding under skin, bloody urine and multiple organ failure. By Emmanuel Kwame Amoh|3news.com|Ghana Follow @kwame_amoh]]>