First Ebola suspected case in Ghana?

Ebola: First suspected case in Ghana not confirmed

08/07/2014

Since March, a severe Ebola epidemic has been raging in several West African countries. Now for the first time also a suspicion case in Ghana was reported. A US citizen had shown symptoms of the disease. After investigations, the suspicion was not confirmed.

Ebola has raged in West Africa for months
For months, a serious Ebola epidemic has been raging in West Africa. The disease first appeared in Guinea in March and quickly spread to Liberia and Sierra Leone. The World Health Organization (WHO) spoke of the worst outbreak of all time. Recently, a suspected case in Ghana was now known. The BBC quoted a statement from the Department of Health stating that a US citizen with symptoms of the disease is being quarantined and being examined in a private clinic in the capital, Accra.

First suspicion in Ghana not confirmed
The clinic employees were also quarantined. The population was asked to keep calm. The patient had been tested for the virus and the result was negative. This reports „The world“. The Americans in Ghana are said to have visited Guinea and Sierra Leone in the weeks before. The „world“ according to the latest WHO data, 481 people have already died of the virus by the beginning of July. There were a total of 779 suspected cases. The pathogen was first detected in 1976 in the Congo. Experts fear that the disease could spread to other countries.

Up to 90 percent of the infected die
According to the WHO, the incubation period for Ebola is two days to three weeks. First, it comes to infected people to symptoms similar to an incipient flu. Fever, muscle and headache, a general feeling of weakness and sore throat suddenly set in. Later, kidney and liver function are reduced and symptoms such as bloody diarrhea, nausea and vomiting, mucous membrane bleeding, bleeding in the skin and increased internal bleeding can occur. About 60 to 90 percent of the infected die from the disease.

Further spread is to be prevented
Just last week, eleven regional health ministers and numerous international experts adopted a new strategy to fight the virus following a crisis meeting in Accra. Above all, this should prevent Ebola from spreading to other countries. As one of the most important measures to curb the virus, experts see enlightenment. Since they do not know the plague, many people in West Africa are unsure. Doctors are often distrusted and family members with Ebola symptoms hidden. In addition, funerals continue to be performed, where the dead are washed or hugged again, which represents a major risk of infection for the relatives.

Neither vaccine nor drug for Ebola
The pathogen has its origin in the animal kingdom. People can become infected through contact with diseased animals, such as monkeys. Through blood and other body fluids, the disease is transmitted from person to person. As there is currently no vaccine or drug for Ebola, doctors are usually limited to strengthening the immune system of the infected and helping patients with medicines for fever, antibiotics against secondary diseases and measures against dehydration. (Ad)