VZCZCXRO5124
PP RUEHAST RUEHDH RUEHHM RUEHLN RUEHMA RUEHPA RUEHPB RUEHPOD RUEHSL
RUEHTM RUEHTRO
DE RUEHAR #0820/01 2321545
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 201545Z AUG 09 ZDK PER SERVICES ZDK
FM AMEMBASSY ACCRA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 8152
INFO RUEHPH/CDC ATLANTA GA 0036
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHDC
RUEAUSA/DEPT OF HHS WASHDC
RUEHZK/ECOWAS COLLECTIVE
RUEHZN/ENVIRONMENT SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY COLLECTIVE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ACCRA 000820 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR M/MED, AF/W, OES/PCI, OES/IHB, AIAG 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: KFLU TBIO EAID GH
SUBJECT: GHANA RECORDS FIRST H1N1 CASES 
 
ACCRA 00000820  001.3 OF 002 
 
 
¶1. SUMMARY: Ghana has recorded six confirmed cases of H1N1 influenza 
through August 20, 2009.  Two individuals were treated in hospital 
with Tamiflu and have fully recovered, and four persons are 
currently being treated at home with Tamiflu and have not yet 
recovered.  To date, Ghana has not recorded any H1N1 fatalities. 
USG agencies at post, including the U.S. Naval Medical Research Unit 
(NAMRU), USAID and CDC have been collaborating with GOG health 
officials as they respond to the pandemic.  END SUMMARY. 
 
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FIRST TWO H1N1 PATIENTS RECOVER 
------------------------------- 
 
¶2. On August 6, Ghana confirmed its first two cases of H1N1 through 
lab testing at the University of Ghana's Noguchi Memorial Institute 
for Medical Research, which serves as Ghana's central reference 
laboratory for influenza and other diseases.  The first two cases 
involved a brother who had recently returned from the United Kingdom 
and his sister.  Both were hospitalized and treated with Tamiflu at 
an Accra hospital, and were subsequently released from the hospital 
after making a full recovery.  The Ghana Health Service (GHS), the 
division of the Ministry of Health (MOH) that manages Ghana's public 
health and hospital system, traced contacts of the individuals, but 
did not detect any further H1N1 cases through lab testing. 
 
-------------------------------- 
FOUR NEW H1N1 CASES IN TREATMENT 
-------------------------------- 
 
¶3. On August 18, two new cases of H1N1 were confirmed through lab 
testing at Noguchi.  An expatriate father and his child living in 
the Accra Airport Residential Area recently returned from overseas 
travel and appeared at a health clinic in Accra on August 18 with 
fever and cough.  Samples were tested at Noguchi that same day and 
confirmed the presence of the H1N1 flu virus.  On August 19, the 
expatriate mother and a second child in the family also tested 
positive for H1N1. 
 
¶4. All four individuals are currently being treated at home with 
Tamiflu.  The GHS is currently identifying and tracing others with 
whom the family may have come in contact.  Contacts at the GHS would 
not reveal to us the nationalities of the expatriates, but confirmed 
to us that they were not American or Ghanaian. 
 
¶5. The four newly recorded H1N1 cases are not related to or linked 
to the first two cases.  To date, there have been no confirmed 
fatalities from H1N1 in Ghana.  Through August 20, the Noguchi Lab 
has tested over 70 samples for the presence of H1N1, and only six 
samples have tested positive for H1N1. 
 
--------------------- 
PANDEMIC PREPAREDNESS 
--------------------- 
 
¶6. Embassy USAID and EST officers attended H1N1 technical 
coordination meetings at the MOH on August 12 and August 19, where 
MOH officials shared with us their actions in response to the first 
H1N1 cases.  The GHS and MOH have distributed 50,000 units of 
Tamiflu to regional hospitals and health clinics, and sent 
guidelines to both public and private health facilities about the 
procedures that should be followed in cases of suspected H1N1 
influenza.  The GHS and MOH are currently preparing public service 
announcements (i.e., radio spots, posters, and specific 
announcements at the Accra International Airport) and guidelines for 
schools about dealing with H1N1. 
 
¶7. At the technical coordination meeting on August 19, GHS Director 
General Dr. E.K. Sory said that the GOG may call on its 
international partners for additional assistance as the GOG 
continues to respond to the pandemic.  For instance, GOG health 
officials noted that they may need assistance going forward in 
preparing messages to schools, in procuring personal protection 
equipment (PPE) for health care workers after existing stocks run 
out, and in procuring additional reagents, primers and chemicals 
from abroad for continued lab testing at Noguchi.  However, GOG 
officials have not yet made any specific requests, other than 
continued coordination and communication with international partners 
such as the WHO, UNICEF and the Red Cross, and USG agencies, 
including NAMRU, CDC and USAID. 
 
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COMMENT 
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¶8. USG support and technical assistance helped in the detection of 
Ghana's first H1N1 cases.  NAMRU has a strong collaborative 
relationship with the Noguchi Lab and currently funds one active 
 
ACCRA 00000820  002.3 OF 002 
 
 
duty physician and 10 lab specialists and staff at Noguchi, and also 
provides the reagents, chemicals and training on the real-time PCR 
machines at Noguchi.  CDC has also been providing Noguchi with H1N1 
primers to test human biological samples for the presence of H1N1. 
In addition, USAID has been working with the GOG, International 
Federation of the Red Cross and the Ghana Red Cross Society in 
preparing a comprehensive pandemic preparedness and humanitarian 
response plan for Ghana through USAID's H2P Initiative.  We will 
continue to work closely with the GHS, MOH, Noguchi and other 
partners as the GOG responds to the growing threat of H1N1. 
 
¶9. The Embassy's working group on avian and pandemic influenza will 
meet on August 25 to consider what other steps the mission, embassy 
community and American citizens may need to take in pandemic 
preparedness. 
 
TEITELBAUM