Monkeypox Outbreak Travelers Entering Ghana To Undergo Screening GHS

The Director of Public Health at the Ghana Health Service, Dr. Franklin Asiedu Bekoe, has outlined measures being adopted by the ministry to prevent the outbreak of monkeypox in the country.

Speaking in an interview on Adom FM’s Dwaso Nsem program on August 15, 2024, Dr. Asiedu Bekoe hinted that travelers entering the country through land, sea, and airports will soon be required to undergo screening.

According to him, this will help detect early cases and prevent the spread of potential monkeypox diseases.

“The travelers will undergo screening for us to know they don’t have Monkeypox at the borders, land, sea, and airports. There will be guidelines at the hospitals for the doctors to know how to handle such cases. So we have an updated national plan,” he said.

The World Health Organization on August 14, 2024, declared the monkeypox disease a global health emergency after confirming a total of 2030 cases and 13 deaths this year in Africa.

The viral disease that has spread in the DR Congo has now affected four previously unaffected countries – Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, and Uganda.

The WHO declared the recent outbreak of the disease as a public health emergency of international concern after identifying a new variant of the virus.

As of August 16, Nigeria has recorded 39 cases of monkeypox. No fatalities have been recorded.

The latest countries to record Monkeypox are Sweden in Europe and Pakistan in Southeast Asia, outside of the African continent.