The Ghana Health Service (GHS) has officially confirmed an outbreak of typhoid fever in the Oti Region, with emerging cases spanning the Biakoye, Krachi East, Krachi West, and Krachi Nchumuru districts. The announcement, issued on August 28, 2025, was signed by Dr. Caroline Reindorf Amissah, Acting Deputy Director-General of the GHS, underscoring the gravity of the situation and the urgency of coordinated action across regional health structures.
In response to the outbreak, the GHS immediately dispatched a National Case Management Rapid Response Team to the affected districts. This multidisciplinary unit, comprised of clinical specialists and epidemiologists, will strengthen local surveillance, validate case counts, and support medical teams on the ground in both diagnosis and treatment protocols. “We are working closely with the Oti Regional Coordinating Council and the Ministry of Health to contain the spread,” the GHS statement declared, highlighting the collaborative framework underpinning the rapid deployment.
Typhoid fever, caused by the bacterium Salmonella Typhi, thrives in environments where water and food supplies are compromised. Transmission occurs primarily through ingestion of contaminated drinking water or food items handled under poor hygiene conditions. In rural and peri-urban settings—such as those seen across parts of Oti—breaks in water sanitation systems can create ideal conditions for swift disease propagation. The GHS alert emphatically stressed the importance of bolstering supply-side safeguards in conjunction with medical response measures.
Clinically, typhoid presents with a spectrum of systemic symptoms that include persistent high-grade fever, chills, headaches, sore throat, and general malaise. Abdominal pain often accompanies diarrhoea, which may alternate with bouts of constipation. Without prompt antibiotic therapy, patients risk serious complications such as intestinal
perforation, hemorrhage, and life-threatening sepsis. The GHS bulletin reinforced the need for frontline clinicians to maintain a high index of suspicion in febrile patients presenting from the affected districts.
To curb further transmission, the GHS has urged residents across Oti to rigorously observe personal and communal hygiene practices. Households are being advised to boil or chemically treat all drinking water, to wash hands thoroughly with soap at critical junctures—especially before eating and after using the latrine—and to cook all foodstuffs to safe internal temperatures. The Service specifically warned against open defecation near water bodies, which can perpetuate bacterial contamination cycles in both wells and surface sources.
Complementing these behavioural interventions, community clean-up exercises are being organised to eliminate environmental reservoirs of Salmonella Typhi. Local chiefs, assembly members, and youth volunteers have been mobilised to remove refuse from communal spaces, repair broken latrines, and ensure that drainage channels remain unobstructed. These grassroots efforts aim to reinforce the GHS’s technical guidance with visible, neighbourhood-level action that reduces the overall risk of exposure.
In closing, the GHS appealed for public calm and cooperation, noting that “further updates would be communicated after initial assessments in the affected districts.” This pledge for transparent, real-time information sharing is intended to maintain public trust and to guide timely adjustments in outbreak management strategies. As the Rapid Response Team settles into field operations, health authorities remain vigilant, emphasising that sustained community engagement and strict adherence to preventive measures will be critical to halting the typhoid surge in Oti Region for good.
Source: Typhoid fever outbreak in Oti Region — GHS deploys rapid response team – Graphic Online
