Wa, Feb. 22, GNA - Seventeen people have died from an outbreak of a new strain of cerebrospinal meningitis in the Upper West Region since January 2010, Dr Alexis Nang-beifubah, Regional Director of Health Services, told meningitides W135, which is being seen for the first in Ghana.

Jirapa District has recorded 53 cases of the disease with eight deaths; Wa Municipality, 17 cases with five deaths; Nadowli District 14 cases with four deaths while Lawra and Wa East Districts have registered 11 cases and a case, respectively, with no deaths.

Dr Nang-beifubah, who updated the GNA on the disease situation in an interview, said the W135 type is common in neighbouring Burkina Faso and different from the neiseriae type "A", which is known in the Region. He said the health directorate had no vaccines for the W135 type A, which was emerging in the area for the first time.

Dr Nang-beifubah said eight cases were initially reported in Jirapa but the number rose to 13 the following week.

The Health Directorate has mobilized personnel, vaccines and other logistics to the Districts to vaccinate the people against type A, while monitoring the trend in all the nine districts of the Region.

Dr Nang-beifubah said the situation was under control as all Epidemic Management Committees in the Districts had been reactivated to help to strengthen local surveillance on the disease.

He said Sissala West; Sissala East; Wa West and Lambussie/Karni Districts have not yet recorded cases of the disease.

He advised people in the Region to avoid overcrowding and to sleep in ventilated rooms, as well as drink sufficient water and fluids. 23 Feb. 10