Ebola scare at Ellembelle over bats invasion

Fear has gripped the people of Dadwen near Asomase in the Ellembelle District of the Western region following an invasion of the farming community by bats.

The people are terrified because they fear the bats could be the types that are said to be carrying the deadly Ebola virus.

The residents have, therefore, appealed to the district authorities to as a matter of urgency, do something about the situation before the unexpected happens.

They asserted that they had no idea where the bats migrated from and had been occupying most of the trees in the community.

Speaking in an interview with DAILY GUIDE, Joseph Tetteh Sackey, chief farmer of Dadwen, indicated that the people in the community saw a few of the bats about three days ago, but as at yesterday, the mammals had taken over the whole community, creating nuisance in the area with noise.

According to Mr. Sackey, what was very worrying was that the bats had been polluting the mainstream in the area which serves as the source of drinking water, with their droppings.

When DAILY GUIDE contacted the Ellembelle District Director of Agriculture, Charles Ekpale, he confirmed the story.

He said that information he had gathered indicated that about 600 of the bats had invaded the small farming community.

The District Director of Health Service at Ellembelle, Elizabeth Conney, claimed that she had been informed about the bats’ invasion at Dadwen.

She however, advised that the situation should not create fear and panic among the people since the bats might not be the types that carry the Ebola virus.

She charged the inhabitants not to touch any of the mammals that would be found dead. Rather, they should use pieces of stick to gather them and burn them, warning that they should not be eaten.

She appealed to the people to stop drinking water from the streams and use the borehole which had been provided in the community.

She stressed that the District Chief Executive, Daniel Eshun and the District Director of Agriculture were aware and had sent people to the area to assess the situation.