The Health Ministry says it is in control of  the outbreak of the deadly strain of Meningitis in the Brong Ahafo Region.

At least nine people have died in the outbreak of the infectious disease.

Pneumococcal meningitis causes severe swelling of the protective membrane covering the brain and the spinal cord.

Deputy Health Minister, Dr Victor Bampoe in a statement on his Facebook pages said per the responses, so far,  the Health Service at the Tain District in the Brong Ahafo region have been on top of the issue and that the Director of Public Health and his team  are monitoring the situation.

Meanwhile, a six year old boy is the latest casualty in the outbreak of the disease in the Tain district. He is said to have died yesterday.

Also, an 11-year-old boy is also battling for his life at a hospital in the region.

Joy News’ Kwabena Ampretum was in the region reports that residents underestimated the severity of the disease.

It was only after a number of people had died that they decided to take precaution.

One resident told Kwabena “we are amazed at the number of people who have died so far. We didn’t know what exactly it was when it started. We could bury about two people in a day. That was when we started getting worried, we are dying here, “he added.

Health authorities say experts have been deployed to contain the disease in the most affected areas.

They are hopeful the disease will be eradicated within a fortnight.

District Director of Health Services, Dr Micheal Rockson says management teams from the various hospitals in the region have met and have agreed to treat patients who report to their hospital with symptoms of the disease with or without a National Health Insurance Card.

“For more than 16 hours now, we have not had any new cases, if this trend should continue we would have been able to handle the situation in the next two weeks,” Dr Rockson said.