Ghana has no case of Marburg Virus Disease (MVD) after the last patient was treated, discharged and reunited with his family, the Ghana Health Service (GHS) has declared.
MVD was first confirmed in Ghana on 4th July 2022. Three cases were reported with the last being on 21st July 2022.
Two of the three cases died.
According to the GHS, in all, 198 contacts were identified in four districts (Adansi North and South, Prestea Huni Valley, and Sawla-Tuna-Kalba) of which 118 of them have completed the 21 days of mandatory follow-up and have since been discharged. The remaining contacts are still being followed up and none has any symptoms.
The GHS in a statement says the only survivor of the three has since recovered from the disease following two negative tests carried out 48 hours apart on the 3rd and 6th of August 2022 respectively, by the Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research (NMIMR).
“The patient has since been discharged and reunited with her family. Ghana, therefore, has no case of MVD,” the statement declared.
In line with World Health Organisation (WHO) guidelines, the outbreak will be declared over 42 days after the last negative test if there are no new cases.
The GHS has, therefore, encouraged the public to continue to observe the preventive measures and to report any illness to the nearest health facility for attention.
“Even though Ghana has no MVD case currently, the Ghana Health Service, together with our development partners and relevant state agencies will continue to maintain heightened surveillance for MVD and other viral haemorrhagic fevers. Ongoing public education and engagements on MVD will be maintained while we continuously review the situation. The Service with support from partners has initiated a process for socioecological mapping to assess the risk of viral haemorrhagic fevers for enhanced surveillance in Ghana,” the statement added.
Source: Classfmonline.com
