The outbreak of cerebrospinal meningitis (CSM) in the Upper West Region has spread to the Northern Region, killing 10 people out of the 54 reported cases of the disease. This follows earlier reports of 17 deaths out of the 95 cases reported in the Upper West Region. The 44 other people who were diagnosed with the disease in the Northern Region are undergoing treatment at various health centres in the region. Unlike the situation in the Upper West Region, however, health officials in the Northern Region maintain that the situation there cannot be described as an outbreak, since the cases recorded fall below the alert threshold of each district, adding that no strange strain of the disease has so far been detected. Briefing some members of the security agencies and the media, the Northern Regional Director of Health, Dr Akwasi Twumasi, said so far 13 out of the 20 districts in the region had recorded a number of cases over the past weeks. The East Mamprusi District, he noted, so far topped the list of casualties with 11 reported cases, followed by Bunkurugu/Yunyoo with 10 cases. Two districts, Saboba/Chereponi and Kpandai, and the Tamale metropolis also recorded six cases each. Dr Twumasi asked residents of the region not to panic, since the situation was under control. "This is the season for the disease and, therefore, the cases recorded are to be expected," he stated. Explaining further, the Regional Surveillance Officer, Mr Edward Accrachie Abu, noted that every district in the region had its alert threshold and none of them had so far reached that alert threshold, "not to mention reaching an epidemic status". He also said all the districts had their epidemic management teams, adding that since last year the teams had put in place adequate preparations control the spread of diseases such as CSM and tuberculosis. Explaining why there had not been any massive vaccination in the region, Mr Abu noted that the vaccine for CSM was very expensive and limited. He also said the disease came in various strains and so vaccination was done in accordance with the type of strain detected. "Currently, we have vaccines for types A and C, which are the common strains in Ghana," he indicated. The Upper West Regional Directorate of the Ghana Health Service (GHS) has given the assurance that it has brought the situation there under control. It said it had intensified its sensitisation on the disease and embarked on more announcements on radio and other media to increase the awareness level in the area. The Upper West Regional Director of the GHS, Dr Alexis Nang Beifubah, who spoke to the Daily Graphic, advised residents to be on the lookout for the symptoms and signs of the disease and report suspected cases to the nearest health facility. He mentioned some of the symptoms as headache, fever, neck pain, neck stiffness arid vomiting. He said in the case of children, they become irritated and most often refused to eat. Dr Beifubah further advised residents to take in more water, sleep in well ventilated rooms and avoid overcrowding. Meanwhile, temperatures in the region continue to rise, with current levels ranging between 40 and 44 degrees Celsius. Source: Daily Graphic/Ghana