Ebola Disease In the West African Sub-Region

The World Health Organization (WHO) from July 2 to 3, 2014 convened an emergency meeting in Accra after it had declared the West Africa sub-region as Ebola endemic, following the death of over 518 people from 844 recorded cases since the epidemic began in February 2014 in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone.

At the meeting, participants, who  included health ministers and health officials, reviewed the current epidemiological situation and considered that the scale of the current Ebola epidemic was unprecedented.

Following this crucial meeting of  health ministers and experts was the reported case of an American
citizen on July 06, 2014 with symptoms suggestive of Hemorrhage fever who was transferred to the Nyaho Medical Centre by the West African  Rescue Association (WARA) for clinical observation.

Indeed specimens were taken from the patient and sent to the Noguchi Memorial Institute
for Medical Research (NMIMR) and all the four laboratory tests proved negative.

Even though the patient died whilst at the Nyaho Medical  Centre, the cause of death was not Ebola fever but of Hemorrhage  fever, an illness caused by four families of viruses. These include  the Ebola and Marburg, Lassa fever, and Yellow fever viruses.  According to health professionals, the viral hemorrhagic fevers (VHFs)  have common features; they affect many organs, damage the blood  vessels and affect the body’s ability to regulate itself.

It is pertinent to note that specific diseases are usually limited to areas where animals that carry them live. For example, Lassa fever is said  to be limited to rural areas of West Africa where rats and mice carry the virus.

Ebola disease- also referred to as Ebola hemorrhage fever  or Ebola fever- is a rare and often fatal illness that humans and nonhuman primates such as fruit bats, monkeys and gorillas can contract of which fruit bats are considered to be the natural host of the virus.

It is important for Ghanaians and all others living in  Ghana to note that the disease Ebola, a hemorrhage fever, has no known cure or vaccine with fatality rates of up to 90 per cent, and it is spread through direct contact with body fluids such as blood, saliva,  faeces, urine, semen or vomit of an infected animal or human.
According to the WHO, the Ebola virus can also be spread through  handling a sick or dead human or animal that has been infected.

It is also important to note that the initial symptoms of Ebola disease looks like those of a common flu infection such as fever, headache, sore throat, joint and muscle pains and weaknesses. However, as the
disease progresses, the symptoms become more severe and pronounced.

It should also be stated that in the late-stage, symptoms of Ebola  virus may include vomiting, diarrhoea, redness of the eyes, swelling of the genitals, internal and external bleeding and a bleeding rash over the entire body.

Additionally, some patients may have blood coming from their eyes, nose, mouth, ears or rectum. The WHO, the Global Alert and Response Network, and its partners are providing  guidance and support and have so far deployed teams of 150 experts to West African countries and to the organization’s African Regional Office in Brazziville, Congo.

According to Dr. Badu Sakordie, Head of Disease Surveillance of the Ghana Health Service, all eight suspected cases of the Ebola virus disease in Ghana have proved negative, but are still being monitored, to ensure that nothing is left to chance.

The Ministry of Health has also activated the National Disease  Surveillance Team to contain any possible spread of the Ebola virus in the country.

Other collaborating organizations are the Department of Public Health, the National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO), the Ghana Civil Aviation Authority, the Ministry of the Interior, and the Ghana Immigration Service.

As all citizens are urged to remain calm, it is important for the media in Ghana and the West African sub-region to continue to provide public education to raise awareness on the risk factors of Ebola infection, and the protective measures individuals
can take to prevent and reduce human infection and death, since Ebola virus disease is said to have no cure.

Prevention, it is said, is better than cure.

By Dan Osman Mwin, Head of the Public Relations Unit of the Ministry of Health.