Ghana records four cases of yellow fever

The Ghana Health Service (GHS) said it has received reports of confirmed yellow fever cases in two regions of the country over the past four weeks.

A total of four cases with no deaths have been reported, the GHS said in a release on Saturday signed by its Director-General Dr Ebenezer Appiah Denkyirah.

Three cases were reported in a district of the Brong Ahafo region while one case was reported in the Volta region.

The health authority called on the public not to panic as the cases are confined to a few communities in the districts, and previous widespread vaccination in 2011 in those districts provided most people with immunity against the disease.

Yellow fever is a viral hemorrhagic disease which causes bleeding which may come out from any of the body openings. It is spread through the bite of infected aedes mosquito with symptoms such as fever with jaundice in the early stages and with multiple organ dysfunctions resulting in kidney and liver failure.

The health service said the risk of further transmission is low due to high fever vaccination coverage in routine Expanded Program on Immunization (EPI) and previous preventive vaccination campaign.

"However, we need to sustain enhanced surveillance, intensive public education of the disease, preventive measures and what to do if one suspects yellow fever," said the release. Endit