Minimumof 128,000 bats sold annually in Ghana

An estimated 28,000 straw-coloured fruit bats known as Eidolon Helvum, valued at Ghc256,000, are sold annually in Ghana as bush meat, Dr. Joseph Somuah Akuamoah, Executive Member of Good Life Ghana, has said.

He said the bats were sold in just 400-kilometre radius, an indication of the role bush meat, which is a source of Ebola Viral Disease (EVD)infection, could play in the spread of the disease in case of an outbreak in the country.

He has, therefore, re-echoed calls for the reduction of bushmeat consumption, with a stern caution to hunters against dead animals they found during hunting since the game might have died of EVD due to infection from one of the affected countries.

Dr. Akuamoah, who is also the Medical Director of St. Joe’s Specialist Hospital at Kasoa, made these known to the GNA as part of awareness creation by Good life Ghana, a non-governmental-organisation.

The Ebola virus is a highly infectious virus that causes Viral Hemorrhagic fever (VHF) and affects multiple organ systems in the body, often accompanied by bleeding.

The disease kills up to 50 to 90 percent of the people who get infected. Several cases have been reported in Guinea, Liberia, Sierra Leone and Nigeria resulting in the death of an increasing number of people.

Some suspected cases reported in Ghana were tested and proved negative.

Dr. Akuamoah said aside hunters, health workers, family members and mourners who came in close contact with infected people were also at risk, and there was, therefore, the need to increase education on the disease for effective management in case of an outbreak.

He said general symptoms of the disease included fatigue, general weakness, joints and muscle pains, Diarrhea, headache, vomiting, sore throat, similar to other diseases like malaria.

He appealed to the public to quickly report to health authorities any suspected person with a history of recent travel to or from the affected countries for prompt screening.

Dr. Akuamoah said that the disease has no specific treatment and therefore advised the public to minimize hand shaking and body contacts, washing of hands regularly with soap and clean water.