Ghana Health Service (GHS) has debunked claims of an outbreak of Ebola in the country and asked the citizenry to disregard reports circulating on various social media platforms suggesting that there is an outbreak of the disease and the Health Authorities are trying to suppress the information.

The social media reports purporting an outbreak in the country follow recent reports of an outbreak in north-western city of Mbandaka in Democratic Republic of Congo in which at least 45 people were believed to have been infected and 25 deaths being investigated.

The Service in a release signed by Dr Anthony Nsiah-Asare, Director General of Ghana Health Service on May 21, 2018 assured the public that there is no outbreak of Ebola in the country.

It said Ghana is free of Ebola and the Service would be the first to inform Ghanaians in case there is any evidence of the disease.

“We want to state emphatically that the report is false and misleading and that there is no such incidence of Ebola in Ghana. Ebola is a highly infectious condition such that when there is an outbreak in a community there is no way the National Health System can keep it secret from the public. The Health System is part of the global community and mandated by International Health Regulation to report all such conditions if they occur.”

The release allayed fears of the outbreak here in Ghana and indicated, “surveillance system has been intensified including the Points of Entries to detect any case should it occur.”

Ebola is an infectious illness that causes internal bleeding and often proves fatal and can spread rapidly through contact with small amounts of bodily fluid, and its early flu-like symptoms are not always obvious.

Ebola was discovered in 1976 near the Ebola River in what is now the Democratic Republic of Congo. Since then, the virus has emerged periodically from its natural reservoir (which remains unknown) and infected people in several African countries with latest outbreak ending in 2016.

By: Ewoenam Kpodo/voltaonlinegh.com