Browsing by Author "Yeboah, Richmond"

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    Burden of respiratory viral infections among inmates of a Ghanaian prison
    (Research Gate Publication, 2019-09-08) Sylverken, Augustina Angelina; El-Duah, Philip; Owusu, Michael; Yeboah, Richmond; Kwarteng, Alexander; Ofori, Linda; Gorman, Richmond; Obiri-Danso, Kwasi; Owusu-Dabo, Ellis; 0000-0002-7691-914X; 0000-0003-1671-0755; 0000-0003-1671-0755; 0000-0002-2765-6179; 0000-0002-0893-2908; 0000-0002-6831-3375; 0000-0002-5497-1684; 0000-0003-4232-4292
    Respiratory viral infections are important causes of morbidity and mortality worldwide. Information on circulating respiratory viruses among prisoners is lacking, although this is of public health importance and knowledge would assist in putting in place preventive measures to forestall disease outbreaks. The aim of this study therefore was to get the footprint of such diseases that have epidemic potential to be described and quantified for control. Prisoners on remand numbering 203 in a prison in Kumasi, the Ashanti Regional capital, were interviewed using prevalidated questionnaire, nasopharyngeal samples taken and screened by real-time PCR for common respiratory viruses in February, 2018. Of the total number of 203 participants enrolled, majority were males (n = 198, 97.54%). The modal age unsurprisingly was in the active working class of 18 to 35 years (n = 155, 76.36%) with 48 (23.65%) of participants older than 35 years. Inmates reported nasal congestion (n = 83, 40.89%), cough with or without pharyngitis (n =108, 53.20%) and fever (n = 74, 39.48%). Viruses detected in throat samples were Infl uenza A (n = 1, 0.49%) and Rhinovirus (n = 8, 3.94%). There was no statistically significant association between respiratory virus positivity and age (p = 0.118), gender (p > 0.900), duration of incarceration (p = 0.239) and reported symptoms (p = 0.724). The prison population may have a lower prevalence of respiratory viruses circulating in them. This may be dominated by those with high antigenic diversity.
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    Infl uenza outbreak among students in Ghana: a report from three time points
    (Research Gate Publication, 2020-09-17) Sylverken, Augustina Angelina; Owusu, Michael; Yeboah, Richmond; El-Duah, Philip; Gorman, Richmond; Bonney, Joseph Kofi; Aryeetey, Sherihane; Adu, Kofi; et. al..; 0000-0002-7691-914X; 0000-0001-5066-150X; 0000-0002-2765-6179; 0000-0003-1671-0755; 0000-0002-6831-3375
    Background: Influenza viruses are known to be responsible for a number of respiratory disease outbreaks worldwide. While there exists documented information on influenza which allows for effective strategic preparedness activities in industrialized countries, the same cannot be said of developing and underdeveloped countries. It therefore behoves on developing countries to document information on circulating strains of influenza. Such information will enable prioritization of prevention and more targeted preparedness strategies. In this paper, we report on three different outbreaks of Influenza A among Ghanaian students in December 2017, May 2019 and December 2019 in the Ashanti region of Ghana. Methods: Throat or nasal samples were collected from all students who presented with signs and symptoms of fl u with flocked swabs, stored in RNAlater and transported to the laboratories of Kumasi Centre for Collaborative Research (KCCR) at ambient temperature. Following viral RNA extraction, detection of viral nucleic acid of both influenza A and its subtypes including H1N1 and H3N2 was done by real-time reverse transcription Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR). Results: A total of 112 samples were taken. An overall Influenza A prevalence of 51.8% (95% CI = 42.1-61.3) was recorded during the three outbreak time points. Of these, 11 (19.0%) were confirmed to be H1N1 (pdm09) and 47 (81.0%) were H3N2 strains. All the 11 H1N1 (pdm09) were identified during the first outbreak. The H3N2 strains were identified during the second and third outbreaks in May 2019 and December 2019 respectively. Our results show that influenza A virus activity was higher during the months of November and December compared to May. Age, contact with infected subjects, temperature, fever within the last 24 hours and headaches showed signifi cant variations (p-value <0.01) with respect to influenza A. Wald’s test revealed that subjects presenting with headaches had about 5 times odds (95%CI = 1.4-17.7) for infl enza A infection compared to subjects without headache (p = 0.014). Conclusion: Our study provides epidemiological information to better understand the incidence and burden of influenza to allow for prioritisation of prevention and control strategies. Such information would aid in controlling and preparing for future influenza epidemics.
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    Sero-prevalence, cross-species infection and serological determinants of prevalence of Bovine Coronavirus in Cattle, Sheep and Goats in Ghana
    (Veterinary Microbiology, 2020) Burimuaha, Vitus; Sylverken, Augustina; Owusu, Michael; El-Duah, Philip; Yeboah, Richmond; Lamptey, Jones; Frimpong, Yaw Oppong; Agbenyegah, Olivia; Folitse, Raphael; Tasiame, William; Emikpe, Benjamin; et.al...; 0000-0002-7691-914X; 0000-0001-5066-150X; 0000-0003-1671-0755; 0000-0002-2765-6179; 0000-0002-7050-1674
    Cattle, goats and sheep are dominant livestock species in sub-Saharan Africa, with sometimes limited in formation on the prevalence of major infectious diseases. Restrictions due to notifiable epizootics complicate the exchange of samples in surveillance studies and suggest that laboratory capacities should be established domestically. Bovine Coronavirus (BCoV) causes mainly enteric disease in cattle. Spillover to small ruminants is possible. Here we established BCoV serology based on a recombinant immunofluorescence assay for cattle, goats and sheep, and studied the seroprevalence of BCoV in these species in four different locations in the Greater Accra, Volta, Upper East, and Northern provinces of Ghana. The whole sampling and testing was organized and conducted by a veterinary school in Kumasi, Ashanti Region of Ghana. Among sampled sheep (n = 102), goats (n = 66), and cattle (n = 1495), the seroprevalence rates were 25.8 %, 43.1 % and 55.8 %. For cattle, seroprevalence was significantly higher on larger farms (82.2 % vs 17.8 %, comparing farms with > 50 or < 50 animals; p = 0.027). Highest prevalence was seen in the Northern province with dry climate, but no significant trend following the north-south gradient of sampling sites was detected. Our study identifies a considerable seroprevalence for BCoV in Ghana and provides further support for the spillover of BCoV to small ruminants in settings with mixed husbandry and limited separation between species.