Residents of Keta in the Volta Region have resorted to the use of alcohol to fight a worm invasion that has plagued the area. Joy News Correspondent Agbeko Ben Kofie reports that the residents take a high dosage of alcohol and smear their bodies with some of the substance to act like an antibiotic against the worms. The small but long, ‘thousand-legged’ worm does not bite but finds the bodies of humans, farms and some rivers in the Volta Region a safe haven. The worm invasion has temporarily deprived over 10,000 people in eight communities in the Keta area their livelihoods. The residents who are mostly peasant farmers and fishermen have been locked up in their homes for days in an attempt to prevent an encounter with the worms. The residents appear not to be strangers to the worm invasion. They tell Agbeko Ben Kofie, seven people died five years ago when the worms first surfaced. They are taking extra precautions to prevent deaths in this new outbreak and have enlisted the appropriate state organizations to come to their aid. The National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO) is said to be spraying infested areas, especially river banks but are yet to make any meaningful headway in the war against the worms, Kofie noted. NADMO is said to have taken samples of the worms for further examination. Meanwhile the military is said to have taken over the battle against the worms with helicopters to survey the area. Story by Nathan Gadugah/Myjoyonline.com