Ghana must urgently prepare hospitals, isolation facilities and emergency funding for a possible Ebola outbreak after the Bundibugyo strain was detected in Nigeria, the Ghana Medical Association (GMA) has warned.
Speaking at a press conference on Sunday to conclude the GMA’s 68th Annual General Conference, its president, Professor Ernest Yorke, said health facilities and response teams needed to be ready before any case reached Ghana.
“The threats of Ebola virus disease, in particular the Bundibugyo strain, which has spread rapidly in Central and East Africa with very high mortality, are now imminent with the detection of the virus in our sister country, Nigeria,” Professor Yorke said.
He praised initial measures taken by the Ministry of Health and the Ghana Health Service (GHS), including monitoring travellers at ports of entry and briefing healthcare workers.
However, he said those actions needed to be supported by broader preparations across hospitals and districts.
“The GMA calls for intensified public education, designation of quarantine and isolation sites, case management readiness, as well as strengthening surveillance within communities,” Professor Yorke said.
“We further call on the government to proactively set aside funds to finance the response to any possible outbreak.”
Nigeria case and Ghana surveillance
The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC) said the country’s only confirmed case was a Swiss woman who had travelled to Uganda before returning to Abuja. It was Nigeria’s first confirmed Ebola case in more than a decade.
The woman and her husband were evacuated to Switzerland on October 26. Two other suspected cases in Nigeria subsequently tested negative.
Ghanaian health authorities have increased surveillance at airports and borders. They have also introduced a 21-day monitoring protocol for travellers arriving from countries that have recorded Ebola cases.
Symptoms and public health advice
The World Health Organization (WHO) says Bundibugyo virus disease is a serious viral illness spread through direct contact with the blood, secretions or other bodily fluids of an infected person, or someone who has died from the disease. Transmission can also occur through contact with contaminated surfaces.
Symptoms can develop between two and 21 days after exposure. They usually begin suddenly with a high fever, severe headache, muscle and joint pain, sore throat and general weakness.
Vomiting, diarrhoea, a skin rash, impaired organ function and unexplained bleeding can follow.
The GMA urged people to wash their hands regularly with soap under running water and to use alcohol-based hand sanitisers. It also advised the public to avoid physical contact with suspected cases and contaminated objects.
Anyone showing symptoms should be reported immediately to the nearest public health facility, the association said.
