Regional News of Thursday, 4 December 2003

Source: GNA

Typhoid fever breaks out at Obuasikrom

Obuasikrom (Ash), Dec. 3, GNA - A reported typhoid fever outbreak at Obuasikrom and its surrounding villages in the Atwima district of Ashanti has killed two pupils of the local primary school.

Twenty other people, including school children are reported to be on admission at the Nyinahin and Bibiani Government Hospitals.

Mr Justice Koranchie, assemblyman for the area, ! who briefed the Ghana News Agency on Tuesday, attributed the outbreak to the use of water from an unhygienic well which served as the only source of drinking water for the people.

He said sometimes, decomposed bodies of rodents and animals were found in the well.

Mr Koranchie said medical officials of the two hospitals had confirmed that the cause of the disease was linked to the water source.

He therefore appealed to the Atwima district assembly and non-governmental organisations to come to their aid by providing them with boreholes to save their lives. When contacted, Mrs Beatrice Appah, the Atwima District Director of Health Services, confirmed that typhoid fever was prevalent in the district.