Description of the situation
02 September 1999
Disease Outbreak Reported
An outbreak of cholera has been reported in the Builsa district of the Upper East region, one of the frontier districts with Burkina Faso. As at 23 August, 269 cases with 9 deaths had been reported from 3 of the 6 subdivisions of the district, including from areas classified as hard-to-reach because of flooding and muddy terrain at this time of the year, which is the peak of the rainy season in that part of the country. Laboratory investigations have confirmed cholera, Inaba subtype.
Measures so far taken include intensive public education campaigns aimed at prevention and early reporting of cases for treatment, mobilization of stocks for case management at regional level and dispatch of regional-level rapid response teams to work with the District Assembly and district disaster/epidemic management committee. The regional authorities are also involved in social mobilization for diarrhoeal disease prevention in neighbouring districts. The situation is being closely monitored by the national intervention teams and further updates will be provided as soon as they become available.
Cholera is endemic in Ghana. As at 31 August 1999, a total of 3 997 cases and 100 deaths had been reported to WHO. There has been an increase of almost 1 000 cases in the last month.