Ministry of Health says it is alert to SARS

The Ministry of Health on Wednesday said it is closely monitoring the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) and has put in place the necessary structures for any eventuality.

In a statement issued in Accra following an earlier report in a section of the media that two Ghanaians suspected to be SARS patients were on board an Egypt Air flight that arrived at the Kotoka International Airport on Wednesday, the Ministry asked the public to remain calm. It said latest information said the two Ghanaians might not even have contracted SARS.

Giving details about the alarm, the Ministry said it received un- collaborated information from Ghana's Mission in Cairo, Egypt, on Tuesday that two Ghanaians who had been deported from Japan and were in transit in Cairo were suspected to have contracted SARS.

"The information could subsequently not be confirmed by the Egyptian Authorities." The statement said the Inter-Agency Committee on SARS held an emergency meeting on Tuesday night to determine appropriate the measures to be taken. Measures were, therefore, put in place to deal with any eventuality according to World Health Organization guidelines.

"At the same time, the Ministry in collaboration with the Ghana Civil Aviation Authority requested their counterparts in Egypt not to allow on board the two suspected patients and have them quarantined in Egypt."

The statement said as part of the preparation, a team of medical personnel was despatched to the airport early on Wednesday before the arrival of the plane, in the event that the Cairo authorities did not accede to the request of the Ministry of Health.

The Ministry said it subsequently received a message from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs saying that the Cairo authorities had acceded to their request and the two Ghanaians were not on board the flight.

"Further information provided by the Egyptian authorities indicated that the two Ghanaians might not even have contracted SARS." The Airport was on high alert on Wednesday morning when reports filtered through that two Ghanaians suspected to be suffering from the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) were arriving there.

Among the officials at the Airport were the Minister of Health, Dr Kweku Afriyie, top Management of the Ghana Civil Aviation Authority, Immigration officials, Customs, Excise and Preventive Service, Port Health as well as doctors from the 37 Military Hospital, who were all in protective masks.

It took about 20 minutes before the gangway was moved to the entrance of the plane and two health officials in full protective gear entered the plane to identify the two persons so as to quarantine them. They, however, emerged to say that the two suspects were not on the plane.