Ghana confirms 14 Lassa fever cases, including one death

STORY: Ghana confirms 14 Lassa fever cases, including one death DATELINE: March 3, 2023 LENGTH: 00:01:40 LOCATION: Accra CATEGORY: HEALTH SHOTLIST: 1. various of street scenes in Ghana 2. various of medical workers STORYLINE: Ghana confirmed 12 new cases of Lassa fever after Sunday, bringing the total number of infections to 14, said a release issued by the Ghana Health Service (GHS) Wednesday. The GHS said the 12 new cases were close contacts of the two cases confirmed earlier and identified through contact tracing. Ghana first reported two confirmed cases of Lassa fever Sunday, indicating that one of the infected persons had died of the disease, leaving the number of confirmed active cases at 13. "All 13 cases are alive and in stable condition and are being managed in designated health facilities. A total of 97 contacts have been identified, and efforts are underway to identify more contacts," the release added. Lassa fever is caused by the Lassa virus, transmitted to humans through conta

Ghana confirms first two cases of Marburg virus disease

STORY: Ghana confirms first two cases of Marburg virus disease DATELINE: July 19, 2022 LENGTH: 00:02:32 LOCATION: Accra CATEGORY: HEALTH SHOTLIST: 1. various of crowds in markets 2. various of people getting vaccinations 3. various of crowds in markets STORYLINE: Ghana has confirmed the country's first two cases of Marburg virus disease (MVD), the Ghana Health Service (GHS) said in a statement late Sunday. The confirmation came after samples from suspected infected individuals that had been sent to the Institute Pasteur in Dakar (IPD) tested positive for MVD. The GHS first announced the suspected infections on July 7, after identifying two persons who had met the case definition of acute hemorrhagic fever in Ghana's Ashanti Region. The samples from the individuals tested positive for MVD at the Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research. With assistance from the World Health Organization (WHO), the samples were forwarded to the IPD for further confirmation. "So far, 98 contacts have been identifi