Suspected Ebola Man Dies At Kintampo

Medical team dressed in Ebola apparel conveying the body 

Fear and panic has gripped residents of Kintampo in the Brong-Ahafo Region following the bizarre death of a young man suspected to have been infected with the deadly Ebola virus.

The man, who was on board a Kumasi-Bolga bound mini bus with registration number GT 9982 E, allegedly complained of some ailment and started having running stomach and vomiting blood when the vehicle got to Kintampo Sunday morning. He died some few minutes later.

Eyewitnesses told  DAILY GUIDE  that the development created panic among both the passengers and the residents around the lorry park where he passed on, as medical personnel, dressed in their full Ebola apparel, stormed the scene to convey the body to prevent people from contacting it.

The Disease Officer of the Kintampo Municipality, Kofi Adams, confirmed the death of the man to this paper when contacted on telephone. He said the body had since been buried, whilst the blood sample had been taken to the Noguchi Medical Research Centre in Accra for testing.

Mr Adams therefore appealed to residents of the area and the general public not to be scared by the incident since it was not anything serious as earlier speculated, whiles waiting for the full result to ascertain the actual cause of death.

He disclosed to  DAILY GUIDE  that the deceased was among a group of students from the Upper East Region who went to the Wassa area in the Western Region to embark on galamsey (illegal mining) activities during the holidays to earn some money to pay their fees. And, on their way back to the region, the deceased suddenly fell sick and died.

According to Mr Adams, the cause of death could be mercury poison. Mr Adams indicated that a similar incident happened recently at the Goaso area where a Galamseyer died vomiting blood as a result of mercury poison.

FROM Fred Tettey Alarti-Amoako, Sunyani
Email:  [email protected]