<<Print>>

22 fishermen from Liberia who landed at the Bosomtwi Sam Fishing Habour at Sekondi were on Tuesday screened and quarantined for the deadly Ebola virus. The Ghanaian fishermen have stayed in Liberia over the past three years and were on a routine visit to Ghana when security personnel detained and quarantined them. Citi News� Western Regional correspondent, Obrempong Yaw Ampofo reported that the security personnel comprised officials from the Bureau of National Investigations (BNI), the Marine Police, the Ghana Immigration Service, Port Health, Regional Security, Port Security, Regional Disease Control and NADMO. The chief fisherman for the area, Nana Kofi Eshun told Citi News, the security officials have over the weeks been educating them on the dangers of the Ebola disease. The fisher folks had also been advised to report any individual who arrives in the country from neighbouring West African countries. �So I called the Port officials when I was informed that some Ghanaian fishermen had arrived in Ghana from Liberia,� he narrated. According to Nana Eshun, some of the fishermen also fish in the seas of Guinea, which is one of the countries worst hit by the Ebola virus �so for the past three years, some of them have been in Guinea and since the disease has affected a lot of people in that country, they have to be checked before releasing them to their respective families.� The security personnel have since been advising the residents to remain calm and desist from stigmatizing the 22 Ghanaian fishermen after their screening is completed. Four West African nations; Guinea, Liberia, Sierra Leone and Nigeria are battling to control the spread of the Ebola virus which has claimed about 2,300 lives and affected over 4,500 individuals. The World Health Organization (WHO) has partnered with other international organizations and Western nations to help West Africa combat the disease. Here in Ghana, the Health Ministry is collaborating with all security services to screen persons at the various border posts to prevent an infected person from entering the country. Hospitals and border posts have been resourced to aid screening and quarantine.