The country two individuals, who contracted the Marburg Virus, earlier this month, have died. This is according to the Ghana Health Service (GHS).
In a statement issued on Sunday, July 17, the GHS explained that the presence of the virus was confirmed after it run a number of tests.
The statement, which was signed by the Director-General of the GHS, Dr Patrick Kuma-Aboagye, said, “Following the report of the preliminary finding of two cases of Marburg Virus Disease (MVD) from the Ashanti Region on 7th July 2022, the Ghana Health Service (GHS) wishes to announce that further testing at the Institute Pasteur in Dakar (IPD), Senegal has corroborated the results from Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research.
The samples were sent to IPD with the support of the World Health Organization (WHO) for validation in line with standard practice, this being the first time Ghana has confirmed Marburg Virus Disease”.
The statement continued: “The disease was suspected following the identification of two persons who met the case definition for an Acute Haemorrhagic Fever and reported in Adansi North District of Ashanti Region.
So far, 98 contacts identified including those from Sawla-Tuna-Kalba district from Savannah Region are currently under quarantine and being monitored by the Ashanti and Savannah Regional Health Directorates of the Ghana Health Service. No new cases of MVD have been identified”.
Marburg Virus according to scientist is among the worst viruses to human.
In short, it is the only virus which records case fatality rate of 71-100 percent. Simply put, if you get it you die. It is a real threat to humanity, ahead of Ebola and COVID-19.
Apart from Marburg, the biggest threat is Hanta virus, which is more deadly than all.
As a newspaper, we are worried that authorities are not doing much to sensitive the public, not only to spot the symptoms, but to stay away from consuming any animal that carries the virus.
No treatment yet exists for Marburg – but doctors say drinking plenty of water and treating specific symptoms improves a patient’s chances of survival.
The virus is transmitted to people from fruit bats and spreads between humans through the transmission of bodily fluids.
