adminPatrick Chitumba Midlands Bureau
The death toll due to the typhoid outbreak in Gweru has risen to eight as the cumulative total of suspected cases has risen to over 1 500. Gweru typhoid taskforce coordinator Dr Simon Nyadundu said as of Sunday, 38 new cases were recorded from 621 people screened of typhoid.
“A cumulative total of 1 506 suspected cases of typhoid have been reported in Gweru since July 20.
“Of these, six confirmed and zero are probable cases. Eight deaths reported since declaration of outbreak on August 6,” he said.
“Yesterday (on Sunday) 38 new suspects out of 621 screened were recorded. There are six admissions.”
Dr Nyadundu said water sampling is on-going, though they were facing challenges of inadequate equipment. He said Government has been providing water treatment pills to every household in the city.
Dr Nyadundu said they had also beefed up stuff at council and Government health institutions. “We have teams on the ground and we mobilised more stuff from other districts in a bid to have enough workforce so that we curb this water-borne disease as a matter of urgency,” he said.
Health and Child Care Minister Dr David Parirenyatwa last week condemned borehole water in the city, which he said is unsafe for human consumption.
The first case of typhoid in the city was recorded on July 20.
Dr Parirenyatwa, who visited patients admitted to Gweru Provincial Hospital, Mkoba 1 Clinic and Mkoba 13 Clinic to assess the impact of the outbreak, said patients admitted or seeking treatment for typhoid were spread across the city, contrary to earlier council report that the outbreak was confined to just a section of Mkoba suburb covering villages 15, 18, 19 and 20. He said bottled water is at times not safe for drinking and residents should, therefore, embrace household water treatment for their drinking water.
The Gweru City Council, two weeks ago, declared an outbreak of typhoid in the city and appealed for outside assistance to contain the outbreak.
Online Reporter