Franklin Asiedu-Bekoe, Director of Public Health of the Ghana Health Service, speculates that the Western Region may have been the first location where the Marburg virus infected a victim in Ghana.
In the Ashanti Region, two positive cases were recorded on July 8.
A 26-year-old man who entered a hospital on June 26 and passed away on June 27 was the first case. The second case involved a male patient, 51, who entered the hospital on June 28 and passed away the same day.
Before passing away at the hospital, the two patients had visited the same hospital with symptoms including diarrhoea, fever, nausea, and vomiting. The first victim had previously been in Bogoso in the Western Region before travelling to the Ashanti Region and suddenly becoming ill, according to Dr. Asiedu-preliminary Bekoe's investigations into the origin of the outbreak.
He stated that investigations are currently being conducted diligently to identify the specific community the victim had visited before arriving in the Ashanti Region as part of efforts to ensure that an outbreak does not occur somewhere else on the backsight of the GHS.
"We're still looking into it. The goal is to determine where area of the Western Region he is coming from because, according to the first instance we received, the index case, he first resembled Bogoso, It is a large area. So our goal is to focus on a smaller community so that we can get a better sense. So, at this time, we can't say for sure.
"And let me add that because it's a zoonotic ailment, the wildlife division will be able to identify its source as we work with them to determine its origin. But I will tell that as of right moment, the origin of the epidemic is unclear," he stated.
In the meanwhile, 98 people have so far been located through a contact tracing operation in connection with the most recent incident.
The Ghana Health Service is determined to make sure that no potential contacts serve as a source of transmission, thus the Director predicts that over the following days, the number of contacts that have been identified will rise.
"As far as we are concerned, 98 contacts—not all of the contacts—have been identified. Because if you look at the trajectory, it was 34, then 63, and now it is 98. We're looking to find out where these folks went so that we will be able to establish, but for now, we have 98, so don't be shocked if we receive more contacts tomorrow. "I'm confident we'll still have more contacts, so don't get surprised when we get more contacts tomorrow," he added.
Of the 98, 48 are from Sawla-Tuna-Kalba, while 50 are from the Ashanti Region. The 50 people in the Ashanti Region were eventually released after being quarantined for 21 days and having their virus-related tests come back negative.
The other 48 are still being watched for symptoms of the illness.
He said that all of the GHS's random testing to yet had shown negative results.
According to the WHO, marburg is transferred among people by direct contact with the body fluids of infected individuals, contaminated surfaces, and infected products. Marburg is transmitted to humans from fruit bats.
Although there is currently no cure for Marburg, experts suggest that addressing some of the symptoms and drinking water can increase survival chances.
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