Deaths At Budumburam Camp Cause Ebola Scare

Health administrators at the St Gregory Catholic Hospital at Gomoa-Budumburam in the Central Region have called on the government to provide protective equipment for the hospital in its efforts to contain a possible outbreak of the Ebola disease. The call came in the wake of 10 Liberian refugees at the Budumburam Camp dying of unknown causes in the past three months, with the latest one occuring on Friday, August 8, 2014. According to the health administrators at the hospital, the 10 people were brought in dead (BID). Speaking with the Daily Graphic, the Matron of the hospital, Ms Ernestina Manu, said, �we are scared. The authorities should know that we are very vulnerable.� She said without protective gear, health personnel at the hospital might have no other option than to run away for their lives. Unknown cause of deaths The cause of the death of the refuges has not been established but the situation has created apprehension among the staff, who continue to work in what they describe as �an Ebola-vulnerable environment� without protective gear. The worst fear of the staff, Ms Manu said, was the lack of measures in the country to contain the situation. Every week, Madam Manu said, people returned to the settlement from Liberia, raising serious concerns regarding a possible case of Ebola in Ghana. Deplorable isolation ward The Administrator of the hospital, Mr Ayegre Mathias Anaba, said following a meeting at the district health management level, the hospital approached the management of the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) for an isolated place which could be used in the event of a reported case. �They gave us an old food distribution building to use. It is not the best but we have decided to set that place aside to use as an isolation ward in the event of a reported case,� he said. Mr Anaba said the hospital needed extra human resource and specialist arrangement in the event of a reported case, as well as assistance to manage the isolated ward. No cause for alarm The Station Officer of the Budumburam Police Station, Chief Inspector Akwasi Abradu Amoah, said the police were undertaking 24-hour patrols in and around the camp. He said the Liberian community had formed a watchdog committee which was on the lookout for any returnee from Liberia. �There is collaboration among the police, the Watchdog Committee and the St Gregory Catholic Hospital. We are working hand in hand,� he added. Alhaji Kalipha Ability, an opinion leader in the Liberian community, said because of the closeness among the settlers, it was easy to identify any returnee from Liberia. He said the people had been sensitised to report the presence of any returnee or new person to the appropriate quarters for immediate action.