Ghana confirms two swine flu cases

By Masahudu Ankiilu Kunateh, Ghanadot

Accra, Aug 20, Ghanadot - An expatriate and his son have been tested positive for swine flu, the deadly respiratory disease.

To prevent the spread of the virus, the two have been quarantined in their home in Accra and are closely being monitored by the Ghana Health Service.

Dr. Elias Sory, Director General of the Ghana Health Service, who confirmed the latest cases to Joy News on Thursday, said the family tested positive after they had developed symptoms of the swine flu five days earlier.

He noted that the two have in recent times been moving in and out of the country, but it is not clear where they contracted the virus.

Dr. Benjamin Kumbuor, Deputy Minister of Health, said the two cases were identified as a result of an intensive surveillance.

He suspected that the man and his son might have brought the disease from Australia.

Dr. Kumbuor disclosed that the government is worried about the panic being created by the virus among a section of the general public.

Government, he said, would intensify public education on the disease and how it is spread to assuage public fears.

He announced that the technical team of the Ghana Health service has met to strategize on monitoring mechanisms to be instituted at the district and regional levels to check the swine flu, adding that schools would be monitored as well to screen students who might have had contact with the virus whilst they were away from Ghana.

Laboratory tests confirmed Ghana’s first swine flu case in the first week of August.

The victim has since been treated and released.

According to a BBC report, the World Health Organization announced that the first swine flu vaccines are likely to be licensed for use in the general population in September.

Swine flu is a respiratory disease, caused by a strain of the influenza type A virus known as H1N1.

H1N1 is the same strain which causes seasonal outbreaks of flu in humans on a regular basis.