Hearts of Oak Players Catch Pigs Sickness

The Ghana Health Service (GHS) has  confirmed an outbreak of  Swine Flu, Hanz Virus among some Hearts of Oak players and officials and said the affected persons have been asked to be isolated while the Club is omitted from all soccer matches.

Swine flu is a respiratory disease that mostly affects  pigs but can affect humans as well. The type detected the GHS  is known as H3N2v, a non-human influenza virus that normally circulates in pigs.

It is not yet clear how the players got the sickness.

The first case of the disease was detected among some players of Accra Hearts of Oak, a letter dated May 21, 2022  from the GHS and addressed to the President of the Ghana Football Association (GFA) said:

“Following reports of the outbreak of unknown illness among players of Accra Hearts of Oak Sporting Club (AHSC) initiated the necessary investigations in line with its mandate to protect the public from all health hazards including disease outbreak.

“Preliminary findings from our investigations indicate the outbreak of Influenza A subtype H3N2 among footballers of AHSC.  Following discussions we have had today, 21st  May 2022, with a GFA official and an Accra Hearts of Oak official about the situation on hand, the Ghana Health Service recommends that to reduce any risk of further spread and to ensure that players recover fully and participate in the ongoing league, the GFA is to institute the following measures”

The GHS as the GFA to suspend all football matches involving Accra Hearts of Oak for seven (7) days and to ensure the strict isolation of all footballers and staff of AHSC showing symptoms of respiratory illness such as fever, cough, sore throat, runny nose etc.

It also asked the GFA to liaise with the Greater Accra Regional Health Directorate of the Ghana Health Service to support AHSC institute appropriate prevention and control measures for Influenza A subtype H3N2.

Finally it asked the GFA to support the Ghana Health Service to conduct random tests of footballers for clubs not currently affected by the outbreak to ascertain the extent of the outbreak.

It said during the period of implementation of these measures, the GFA shall ensure strict adherence and report any case of breach of these protocols to the Ghana Health Service for further action.

The Ghana Health Service  said it remains committed to protecting the health of the general population including footballers and will strive to implement the necessary measures in line with this.