Cape Town — Minister of Health, Joe Phaahla, says there is no need for South Africans to panic following the announcement of a Cholera outbreak in Limpopo, suspected to be cases from Zimbabwe.
Phaahla confirmed that five new cases were recorded in Limpopo, while the Health Department was also monitoring 46 suspected cases on an infection.
Three cases were imported from Zimbabwe, which is currently battling a deadly cholera outbreak that has killed at least 300 people, EWN reported.
Phaahla said that two of the five cases were siblings who had no travel history, while the rest of the patients were also from the same municipality in the province.
“We are working with the province to identify and trace contacts in the families and also with the environmental health practitioners so we can find the source,” Phaahla said during a media briefing.
Health Minister Joe Phaala has announced two new cases of cholera in Limpopo, but he adds there’s no need to panic. These cases are suspected to be from neighbouring Zimbabwe as the country has been battling the outbreak for months now. #DStv403 pic.twitter.com/UqHLaVYN6y
— eNCA (@eNCA) February 5, 2024
Meanwhile, the National Institute for Communicable Diseases said from the beginning of the year, there has been more than 20 000 cases reported from 12 African countries, including Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Zambia and Malawi, TimesLIVE reported.
The institute said that there was a greater risk of the importation of cholera to South Africa due to the high number of travellers from affected countries.
Phaahla said four of the laboratory-confirmed cases were detected in Limpopo hospitals (Musina and Helene Franz hospitals), and the other one was confirmed in Helen Joseph hospital in Gauteng.
“The local outbreak response teams have been activated to strengthen the investigation to conduct active case finding and contact tracing, to determine the source of infection where there is no travel history, and to institute control measures to avert further local transmission.
Phaahla reiterated that people should not panic but called for more vigilance and for people to exericse cautin and practice good hygiene practice, especially among children at home and schools.
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Compiled by Matthew Petersen
