When an outbreak of the Ebola virus disease in a region of Guinea in February 2014 made the headlines in the international media, I thought we could least be bothered because the World Health Organization would move in with alacrity to ensure that the disease was contained in that region and did not spread to other regions of the country.
However, things turned around and cases of the disease were reported in other regions of Guinea. The disease has also made its way into other West African countries including Liberia, Sierra Leone and quite recently Nigeria claiming the lives of all manner of persons. Seven months down the line, the virus seems to be waging a war with no end in sight on the sub region which is already grappling with issues of economic instability and security.
Ebola virus disease, the much dreaded disease formerly known as Ebola Haemorrhagic fever, is a zoonotic disease caused by Ebola virus belonging to the family Filoviridae which also contains Marburg virus and Cueva virus. There are 5 species within the genus Ebola virus. The centre for disease control and prevention classifies Ebola viruses and Marburg viruses as category ‘A’ bioterrorism agents.
Homo sapiens are infected with the virus through close contact with blood, secretions, organs and other bodily fluids of infected animals such as chimpanzees, gorillas, fruit bats, monkeys, and forest antelope. Transmission from human to human occurs through direct contact with blood, organs or bodily fluids i.e. saliva, semen, breast milk, tears of infected people or exposure to objects that have been contaminated with infected secretions. Research indicates that men continue to shed the virus in their semen up to seven weeks post recovery. Hence, Ebola virus disease can somehow be classified as a ‘sexually transmitted disease’.
Ghana is one of the few countries in the West African sub region that has yet been given enough time to prepare for a possible outbreak. The kind of massive public health campaign that one expects would greet such an epidemic in a sub region where people are so free to move in and out of countries and our sluggish attitude towards adopting recommended practices is not what we are witnessing here in Ghana. It gets more worrying particularly when the signs and symptoms of the Ebola virus disease are not pathognomonic. It just presents with symptoms that the ordinary Ghanaian would diagnose at first sight as malaria, or just normal everyday weakness, get some off the counter drugs or just ignore totally.
Going forward, officials of the ministry of Health and the Ghana Health service must intensify the campaign against the disease and get the education down to the people in the rural areas where access to health care professionals is already a problem. The ministry should also collaborate with community leaders in the rural areas to help with the sensitization process before any possible outbreak is attributed to some deity and treated in such a manner that puts the whole country at risk.
Also, health officials must desist from the panic reaction they have exhibited so far at some health facilities where persons have reported with symptoms suspicious of Ebola virus disease. We all agree disease is deadly but manageable. In fact, what is more deadly than having the patient move out of the hospital into the community if it turns out to be Ebola? Our nurses must also learn to put their vital nursing skills such reassurance to practice, to ease the despondency before confirmatory laboratory test proves otherwise. The ministry must put in place measures to properly motivate health professional who dedicate themselves to work with suspected patients.
Aside the recognized routes of entry into this country, there are numerous unapproved routes through which other nationals, particularly those from countries we share borders with enter this country. Patrolling activities by security agencies along these unapproved routes must be stepped up to arrest persons entering the country illegally hence do not undergo any checks by port health officials. This is very important to ensure that the work being done by port health officials does not become an exercise carried out in futility. Communities along the borders must be on the watch and alert the appropriate authorities of any foreign national in their communities.
In the long term, countries In the West African sub region must pull their resources together to put a research facility dedicated to research on Ebola virus disease to speed up efforts at developing vaccines and rapid diagnostic kits for the disease instead of waiting for researchers elsewhere who do not have the disease on their priority list.
As a people who have developed some weird taste buds over the years, now is the time to take a critical look at our consumption of meat from animals which are not classified as food animals. Bush meat consumption increases the risk of contracting zoonotic disease. On the whole, the battle against this microscopic agent which has become the terror of the sub region can only be won with concerted effort. The onus lies on us as a people to take our public health practices seriously to keep the virus at bay.
