Ghana to ban flights from 'Ebola countries'

Ghana could be forced to ban flights from Ebola affected countries once the spillover rate becomes threatening in West Africa.

Kenya has already banned flights from Sierra Leone and Liberia as a precautionary measure to prevent the haemorrhagic fever - that has killed 1,200 people - from entering their territory.

Ghana has announced preventive measures, which include the setting up of isolation centres, provision of protective gear for frontline health officials and the installation of a thermal thermometer at the Kotoko International Airport, to monitor the disease.

Ghana's deputy transport minister, Joyce Bawa Muntari, says the West African nation is considering plans to close its airspace to the affected countries once they become a threat to the gold producing country.

“In the event that we find a lot of people arriving here from certain countries with the fever, we’ll take certain drastic measures, including banning flights, because this is an emergency situation we have on our hand,” Muntari told Accra-based Citi FM.

She added: “We have isolation centres. In future, if passengers arriving here from Liberia or any other country have [a] threat of carrying the virus, we’ll institute certain drastic measures.”

A few days ago, the country's Minister of Transport, Dzifa Attivor, told state-owned Radio Ghana that the former British Colony has no plans to ban flights from Ebola-stricken nations.

The worst Ebola-hit countries in the West African sub-Region are Nigeria, Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone.

There is no cure for Ebola, which has infected at least 1,779 people since the outbreak was first reported in Guinea in February.