Health authorities at Asante Mampong are preparing to screen second-cycle and tertiary students for cholera and other infectious diseases.

They have met with the educational heads to discuss effective ways of carrying out the planned screening of the students.

All of these form part of the government’s contingency plans to combating the dreaded Ebola virus even before it is brought into the country.

Students in both tertiary and second cycle institutions across the country are resuming school from their vacation next week.

Schools in Asante Mampong include the Midwifery Training, Health Assistants Training, Technical College of Education, Amanianpong, and the St Monica Senior High schools among others.

Medical Superintendent of the Mampong Government Hospital, Dr. Kwadwo Nyarko-Jectey said the widespread of cholera in the country informed the decision to undertake the mass exercise.

And therefore, health officials are poised to attend to such cases should there be an outbreak in the area.

He said officials have been edgy because most of the students would be coming from cholera prone areas like Greater Accra, Eastern and the Central regions.

“That’s where most of the students come from so that is how come we are a little bit edgy and we have set this in motion,” he said.

He mentioned health authorities would monitor students within the first 24-hours on arrival at the campuses.

A cholera scare hit the municipality over the weekend when six people reported at a hospital with diarrhea conditions.

Though none of them tested positive for cholera, authorities explained they were taking no chances as students arrive from endemic areas like the Greater Accra, Central, Eastern and Volta regions.

One person died out of 21 reported cases in the Ashanti region.

Dr. Nyarko-Jectey noted that the weekend scare calls for intensive public education, especially, in the heat of the Ebola threat.

“We will meet them at the point where they enter and try to pick any of these cases before they spread out to their various dormitories,” Dr. Nyarko-Jectey said.