Seven people have died in the Sissala East Municipality of the Upper West Region following a confirmed outbreak of yellow fever, the area’s Member of Parliament, Mohammed Issah Bataglia, has disclosed. Speaking on Channel One Newsroom on Tuesday, October 6, 2026, Mr Bataglia said the Municipal Health Director had confirmed three deaths at a health facility, while four others had been recorded in various communities.
He said the issue was brought to his attention after residents, particularly members of the Fulani community, expressed concerns over an increasing number of deaths in several communities. According to the MP, health authorities had submitted 18 samples to a laboratory in Accra for testing, two of which returned positive for yellow fever.
Mr Bataglia said the situation was particularly worrying because many of those affected were young people, with approximately 59 percent of the reported cases involving children between zero and 15 years. He called for urgent action to contain the outbreak and prevent further loss of life. “I think we need to act as quickly as possible because even having one person losing his life is unacceptable,” he said.
The MP added that health authorities had begun training clinicians on the protocols for recognising the early symptoms of yellow fever to ensure that suspected cases are identified promptly and referred to health facilities for appropriate care.
