According to the Ghana Health Service (GHS), five cases of monkeypox have been confirmed in the Eastern, Bono, and Greater Accra regions.
One of the incidents was a Ghanaian who traveled from Ghana to the United States of America.
The instances were detected after the testing of 12 suspected cases, including one from the Western Region, according to the Service’s Director-General, Dr Patrick Kuma-Aboagye.
“I am sure of late we have had a lot of discussions on social media on monkeypox, and I think the most popular one was the one from the Western Region. That was negative; we tested and it was negative.
“So far, since the outbreak, we’ve tested 12 suspected cases in Ghana since May 24, 2022. Currently, we have confirmed five cases in three regions – Eastern, Western and Greater Accra. No deaths have occurred among the cases,” he revealed at press briefing on Wednesday.
Dr. Kuma-Aboagye noted that, while vaccines are available to treat the condition, “I don’t think we’ve reached a stage where we have to call for vaccination of cases.”
“So, prevention is the key activity that we all must embark on and also early detection and reporting if we see any rash,” he added.
Symptoms of the disease
Monkeypox is an uncommon but potentially fatal viral virus that may be passed from person to person by direct contact with monkeypox lesions or bodily fluid.
Symptoms can be quite similar to those of smallpox patients, although they are less clinically severe, albeit visually striking, with elevated pustules and fever in the most severe instances lasting two to four weeks.
Monkeypox is endemic in Benin, Cameroon, the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Gabon, Ghana (only in animals), Ivory Coast, Liberia, Nigeria, the Republic of the Congo, Sierra Leone, and South Sudan.
SOURCE: myjoyonline
