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Ebola — Who’s looking at the bat connection?

The world’s worst ever outbreak, experts say, is the Ebola disease that can kill as many as nine out of ten people infected.  Unfortunately for us, the deadly disease has hit our sub-region harder than it has ever done anywhere, thus creating fear, especially in the last couple of weeks.

To calm nerves, the Minister of Health was perhaps prompted last week to publicly make known the bold steps that the ministry is taking to stem off the virus. 

At a media briefing last Thursday, the Health Minister, Dr Kwaku Agyeman-Mensah, is reported to have given the assurance that Ghana is on high alert to ward off the Ebola virus.  The Daily Graphic in a report last Friday captured the minister as saying that an inter-ministerial team on the Ebola viral disease (EVD) has put in place a well-prepared plan at the country’s entry points to monitor the progression of the disease. This includes passenger screening.

According to the minister, the inter-ministerial team has been tasked to intensify the fight against the spread of the deadly disease and supervise the work of an existing technical team made up of representatives from multiple state agencies.  He further assured that field officers were on the alert to pick packages and transport specimen to the laboratories for confirmation, while port health officers had also been given orientation in the detection of cases at all points of entry.

While these assurances are commendable, one would also wish that we start looking at and put resources behind the root causes of the virus.  The Minister of Health has so far not given us any such indication.  That, is a worry.

Experts, including some renowned world virologists, who have researched into the disease have told us that the Ebola disease was found most of the time in fruit bat populations.  Every now and then, they are said to enter the human body when someone eats bush meat or comes into contact with bats.

Bush meat is still a delicacy for some people even in this high alert period.  The chop bars and small restaurants are serving them.  In individual homes, families might still be enjoying meals cooked with bush meat and dried bats.  These meats are openly on sale in our markets.  What education could the national Public Health Division give us?  

In addition, at a spot around the 37 Military Hospital in Accra, one finds a congregation of bats hovering around at odd times of the day.  If these are the same bats that experts say are carriers of the disease, do we have plans of extermination, at least for now so animal rights do not get at us?  

At a time when the country has been put on high alert to stem off the deadly Ebola, one would have expected that the strategies to combat infection would be tackled in totality, no matter how minute.  Since it is not, one would like to suggest that same zest be put behind the hunting down of the possible primary carriers of the disease to humans.  We know where to find them, what we need is how to catch them.

The inter-ministerial team should also look at intensive public education on the eating of bush meat, especially bat meat.  The team should not focus their attention solely on surveillance and screening of passengers.  It should go beyond these measures and with the knowledge available to them, look at the causes of the disease and how to educate Ghanaians to stay away from such possible causes.

The early symptoms of Ebola, we are told, are similar to some waterborne diseases, as well as, cholera.   Unfortunately, the cholera disease has once again been reported in some parts of the country with recorded deaths.  Luckily, the hand washing with soap and water education in times of cholera cases still go for Ebola.  The Ghana Health Service, Community Water and Sanitation Department and all other connected agencies should help to upscale the hand washing with soap education.

The Ebola virus, we have been told, is not airborne and the only transmission is through human contact with bodily fluids.  We have been advised to cut down on hand shakes, especially in crowd gathering situations such as funerals.  The public education should go further, especially when we are being told the Ebola virus is still active on the body even after death.  Some cultural practices, such as touching  bodies when parting with the dead, should cease.  

The measures being put in place are welcomed but we need to focus more, at this stage, on extensive public education not forgetting the bat and bush meat connection with Ebola.  We seem to be glossing over all that.

 

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