The death toll from the cholera outbreak in parts of Ghana has shot up to 37, with the number of confirmed cases also increasing from 346 to 359, as of December 26, 2024 The two new deaths were recorded in the Western region. This has prompted the Ghana Health Service to undertake mortality audits.
Out of the number of deaths recorded, five were brought in dead, as 91 out of 276 districts share between them 4,618 cumulative suspected cases. The Ghana Health Service is also reporting an increase in the number of districts with confirmed cases from 44 to 46 as of December 24, 2024.
It comes as the service deploys multi-sectoral national, regional, and district rapid response teams to affected areas to help bring the situation under control. According to the latest information available to JoyNews, the latest districts to record cases are Agona East and La Nkwantanang Madina in the Central and Greater Accra regions, respectively.
The service is, however, reporting a decrease in the number of people who have suffered hospitalization from 64 to 46 over the period. While the Western region has the highest number of 37 affected persons hospitalized, Greater Accra has the least 3, followed by the Central region’s 6.
The Ghana Health Service has also identified and traced 9,667 contacts related to the cases, with 8,667 contacts completing a 5-day follow-up. Meanwhile, the Ghana Health Service has successfully completed Phase 2 of the sub-national Oral Cholera Vaccine (OCV) campaign in 18 sub-districts within 4 hotspot districts of the Western Region.
They include Sekondi-Takoradi, Effia Kwesimintsim, Shama, and Ahanta West between 15 and 18 December 2024, with mop-up on 19 December 2024.
A total of 596,205 persons, representing 92.9% of the targeted population, were vaccinated during the campaign. The service has also intensified testing of selected food vendors and water samples in affected districts.
By: Ohemeng Tawiah
