Two major powers in West Africa, Ghana and Nigeria have announced health measures to prevent the spread of Ebola from the Democratic Republic of Congo.
The central African country has been hit by new Ebola outbreak with new cases detected in the country’s north-west region.
17 people are reported to have died from the latest outbreak in the town of Bikoro, according to the country’s health ministry.
Nigeria’s government on Wednesday said it had put in place an emergency programme to monitor all border activities to ensure that Nigerians are safe.
The country’s health minister Isaac Adewole said after a cabinet meeting that “We will be screening incoming passengers, particularly passengers from DRC and neighbouring countries. (The) Nigerian Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) will also consider sending some teams to DRC as part of building capacity for managing the outbreak”.
Ghana health service on Thursday also issued alert on the deadly virus. In a statement the service’s director general, Dr. Anthony Nsiah Asare said alert has been sent to “hospitals and all other relevant agencies and institutions”.
Besides this there will be “enhanced surveillance” on Ebola “and other acute viral haemorrhagic fevers in general” the statement added.
Other measures to be taken by Ghana will include sensitizing health officials and increasing public awareness.
Over 11,000 people died from the deadly virus in 2014 when it hit West African countries of Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia.
DRC in the central part of the continent is recording the latest cases of the virus after over a year since the outbreak killed four people.
The World Health Organization (WHO), has in a statement said that the latest confirmation was made after laboratory test results confirmed the two cases out of a sample of five suspected patients.
“Working with partners and responding early and in a co-ordinated way will be vital to containing this deadly disease,” the WHO statement added.
$1m has now been released by the WHO to support DRC contain the latest outbreak with more than 50 experts deployed to help health officials in the country.
The Virus which is transmitted by bats was first discovered in DRC in 1976 and named after the Ebola River.
Source: Africafeeds.com
