Sixteen people have reportedly been killed by Yellow Fever in the Savannah Region, says the
Ghana Health Service (GHS).
The GHS has therefore has initiated immediate steps to combat yellow fever outbreak with an extensive vaccination exercise in the area.
On October 29, 2021 the GHS announced the outbreak of suspected Yellow Fever in the Savannah Region.
The outbreak appears to be getting worse few weeks after the announcement.
However, in order to bring the outbreak under control, the Service has started vaccinating people in the area with the hope of extending it across the region.
Thomas Suuri, Disease Control Officer of the Ghana Health Service in the Savannah Region, says about 90 percent of residents in affected communities in the North Gonja District have been vaccinated
“Now the deaths are 16, we have just rolled out the vaccination against Yellow Fever in the two districts where they have recorded the cases. We have started with communities that reported the cases for now, and we have covered about 96% of the North Gonja affected communities, and about 60% of the affected communities in the West Gonja Municipality, so from these areas we hope to vaccinate all residents of the region.”
Mr. Suuri urged residents in especially those within the affected communities, to get vaccinated, explaining that “Everybody should try and get vaccinated, once you are vaccinated, you have immunity against the disease even if you get mosquito bites you will not come down with the disease.”
By Vincent Kubi