South Africa has recorded 46 suspected cholera cases and five laboratory-confirmed cases between January 1 and February 1, health minister Dr Joe Phaahla said on Monday.
Briefing the media in Pretoria, Phaahla said three of these cases were imported from Zimbabwe, which is battling the outbreak of the diarrheal disease. The other two cases are two siblings aged 11 and 13 with no travel history to cholera outbreak areas. Phaahla said this suggested the risk of contact with a known cholera case.
On Friday, the National Institute for Communicable Diseases said from the beginning of the year, there have been more than 20,000 cases reported from 12 African countries, including Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Zambia and Malawi.
The NICD said there was an increased risk of importation of cholera to South Africa due to high number of travellers returning to South Africa and trade between South Africa and 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.
“All public and private health facilities are urged to remain vigilant due to potential high risk of cholera transmission,” the minister said.
Phaahla said there was no need for the public to panic. He called for more vigilance, for people to exercise caution and maintain proper personal hygiene practices, especially among children at home and schools.
The NICD said Mozambique was experiencing the worst cholera outbreak in 25 years. Between October 1 and January 28, 10,451 suspected and confirmed cases were reported, 7,661 people were hospitalised and 25 people died.
The NICD said the first case of cholera in Zimbabwe was reported in February last year. Since then, 20,446 cases have been reported in all 10 provinces. There have been 409 deaths registered up to January 24, 71 of which were culture-confirmed cholera cases.
