Ghana Ebola scare: Teenager’s fatal virus tests negative for disease

Staff of the 'Doctors without Borders' ('Medecin sans frontieres') carry the body of a person killed by viral haemorrhagic fever (Getty Images)

A 12-year-old girl who died of viral fever did not have Ebola, blood tests have revealed.

“We would like to allay fears that the Ebola virus has been detected,” said minister Sherry Ayittey.

More than 90 people have died of Ebola in Guinea and Liberia and there is a reported case in Mali. Medical charity Medicins Sans Frontieres has warned of an unprecedented epidemic in an impoverished region with weak health services.

Samples from the girl were taken from the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital in Kumasi, Ghana's second-largest city, to a medical research centre in the capital Accra, Dennis Laryea, head of public health at the teaching hospital, told Reuters.

The outbreak in Guinea is the first time the disease, epidemics of which occur regularly in Central Africa, has appeared in the country. Infected patients initially went undiagnosed for several weeks before tests confirmed Ebola.

On Friday, an angry crowd attacked an Ebola treatment centre in Guinea, accusing MSF staff of bringing the disease to the town.

Reuters