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Rumbidzayi Zinyuke
Senior Health Reporter
The typhoid outbreak in Harare, with the epicentre in Glen Norah, for almost six months is now under control as cases continue to decline although the infection has yet to be eliminated, but other diarrhoea diseases are also active and the city medical authorities are on alert for cholera.
All cases of typhoid and most diarrhoeal diseases are a result of the bacteria causing the infection moving from sewage to drinking water or food.
If the city sewers were working, and city supplies of treated water were continuous in all areas there should be no such infections.
Harare reported an outbreak of typhoid on October 17 last year with most of the cases mainly being recorded in Glen Norah although nearby suburbs have been hit.
Harare City epidemiology and disease control officer Dr Michael Vere said the cases reported in the week ending February 28 were down from the previous week.
“The typhoid situation is fairly under control as we have witnessed that the number of cases being reported every week is gradually going down. We now have 145 cases of typhoid in total with 60 of those cases from Glen Norah suburb. Of these cases, 28 were confirmed cases whilst the rest are suspected cases with 18 of those cases being reported in Glen Norah,” he said.
Besides the typhoid outbreak, Harare also reported a spike in watery diarrhoea cases since last year.
Dr Vere said cases of watery diarrhoea were also under control as infection rates fall.
“As for watery diarrhoea, currently the city is now below the outbreak thresholds. We recorded 193 cases (in the week to February 28) compared to 230 cases the previous week, which is a 16 percent decrease in the number of watery diarrhoea cases recorded. The highest number of cases were recorded at Hopely clinic which had 19 cases,” he added.
The rise in diarrhoeal diseases has been a cause for concern and has put authorities under pressure to contain them as the threat of a cholera outbreak also looms.
Two cholera cases were identified in Chegutu recently and another case was confirmed in Mutare yesterday. While the two in Chegutu have been contained, the Government activated health emergency response mechanisms across the country to ensure proper management of any identified case.
Dr Vere said Harare City Council had taken samples from most patients with watery diarrhoea to test for cholera and none had tested positive.
“We have strengthened our surveillance in terms of detection of potential cases of cholera based on the diagnosed cases in Chegutu and the outbreaks in neighbouring countries as well.
“So we are still very much on high alert in our institutions and at community level where we have increased our presence to make sure people are aware of the signs and symptoms of diseases like cholera so that they can efficiently and timeously refer people with symptoms to the clinics,” said Dr Vere.
He said all council clinics had the capacity to collect samples for testing of cholera and typhoid.
He said the local authority was also continuously conducting water quality monitoring, collecting samples from various water sources including boreholes and municipal water for testing.
“We continue to find some boreholes that are contaminated and when we find such a borehole we install inline chlorinators that help to kill the bacteria. We are also conducting health education in our institutions and also in the communities through the community health workers,” Dr Vere said.
Council has also put in place measures to ensure that any cholera case that might be detected is treated locally to minimise spread of the disease.
Dr Vere said cholera kits had been prepositioned in all council clinics around the city to enable timely management of any cholera case.
“We are also planning to provide refresher training for our staff because it has been a while since the last outbreak and most of the staff we had then have either left service or transferred. So we want to make sure the new staff gets training on the management of cholera and typhoid,” he said.
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