In the history of mankind, the black death, small pox and influenza pandemics have threatened our existence. The Spanish flu has been described as the greatest medical holocaust as it infected an estimated one third of the world’s population and caused approximately 50 million deaths globally.
On the 30th November, 2017, an outbreak of an undiagnosed illness in a Senior High school in Asokore Mampong Municipality was reported. This was confirmed to be an influenza outbreak on the 7th of December when 12 out of 19 initial throat swabs tested positive for Influenza A H1N1 2009 strain. We need to address the possibility of epidemic outbreaks as a nation and put measures in place to prevent such occurrences or prepare adequately to control it as outlined.
Mark Honigsbaum, A History of the Great Influenza Pandemics: Death, Panic and Hysteria, 1830–1920 (London & New York: I. B. Tauris, 2014), pp. x + 313, £62.00/$95.00, ISBN: 9781780764788.
