Kwekwe on cholera alert

Lovemore Zigara Midlands Correspondent
THE Kwekwe City Council is on high alert following reports of the outbreak of cholera in some parts of the country.

Cholera cases have been reported in parts of Masvingo, Mashonaland East, Central and Manicaland Provinces where more than 10 people have died of the disease.

Responding to questions from councillors who wanted to find out council’s state of preparedness in case of cholera outbreak in the city during a full council meeting recently, the director of health services, Phyllis Gochera said a clinic had been set up to deal with potential cholera cases.

She said the clinic was in town.

“We are on high cholera alert and we are working closely with the Ministry of Health and Child Care to come up with measures to contain cholera in the event that cases are reported in Kwekwe. “In this light council has set up a clinic which will deal with cholera cases if they are reported,”she said.

Gochera said cholera beds and buckets had already been taken to the clinic.

She said council had already embarked on awareness campaigns to educate people on the disease in schools as well as in critical areas such as markets.

Cholera can be transmitted through water and fresh foods especially fruits, fish and meat and pre-cooked food sold in the open.

The country experienced its worst cholera outbreak between August 2008 and July 2009 when almost 100,000 cases and 5, 000 deaths were reported in 55 of the country’s 63 districts.

Meanwhile, the city council is not attending to emergencies requiring ambulance services at night as the two ambulances do not have headlights.

Council’s director of finance, Rejoice Maweni said her office had already made a request for the purchase of new ambulances as the two were old and experiencing constant breakdowns.