Public Health: Government launches campaign against rare viral disease

The Minister of Public Health, Andre Mama Fouda has called on everyone experiencing high fever accompanied by rashes with or without bleeding to rush to the nearest health district for medical attention.

This information is contained in a communique published this 29th January 2018.

History

The comminique follows the report from the Surveillance and Health Watch Mechanism of the Centre Region of the case of three members of one family who died after presenting some symptoms including: high fever, rashes and bleeding.

The deaths were recorded between 8th and 22nd January, 2018.

Following the situation, the health officials immediately notified the Ministry of Public Health for fear that they were dealing with a viral haemorrhagic fever.

One of the members of the affected family who is not showing any severe signs of illness is under medical surveillance.

The latter has tested negative for Ebola, Marburg and Lassa, all viral haemorrhagic diseases, however investigations continue.

Government, in order to be proactive and fight any imminent outbreak of a viral hemorrhagic disease invites anyone experiencing the afore mentioned symptoms to report to the nearest health district for immediate medical follow-up.

About Viral Haemorrhagic Fevers

Viral haemorrhagic fevers (VHFs) refer to a group of illnesses that are caused by several distinct families of viruses. In general, the term “viral haemorrhagic fever” is used to describe a severe multisystem syndrome (multisystem in that multiple organ systems in the body are affected). Characteristically, the overall vascular system is damaged, and the body’s ability to regulate itself is impaired. These symptoms are often accompanied by haemorrhage (bleeding); however, the bleeding is itself rarely life-threatening. While some types of haemorrhagic fever viruses can cause relatively mild illnesses, many of these viruses cause severe, life-threatening disease.

Source: https://www.cdc.gov/vhf/index.html

Ebola Virus disease (EVD), also known as Ebola haemorrhagic fever (EHF) or Ebola is a viral haemorrhagic disease of humans and other primates caused by the Ebola virus.

Lassa Fever, also known as Lassa haemorrhagic fever (LHF), is a type of viral hemorrhagic fever caused by the Lassa virus.

Marburg Virus (MARV) is a hemorrhagic fever virus which causes Marburg virus disease in humans and non-human primates.

Eleanor Ayuketah

Laisser un commentaire

Votre adresse e-mail ne sera pas publiée. Les champs obligatoires sont indiqués avec *

Ce site utilise Akismet pour réduire les indésirables. En savoir plus sur comment les données de vos commentaires sont utilisées.