Cholera death toll keeps rising

Source: Cholera death toll keeps rising – DailyNews Live

Helen Kadirire      12 September 2018

HARARE – The death toll from the cholera outbreak has risen to 20 people
from 16 over the weekend, the Daily News heard yesterday.

This comes as government declared an emergency on Harare to monitor the
epidemic.

Health and Child Care minister Obadiah Moyo confirmed yesterday that 20
people have succumbed to the waterborne disease at Beatrice Road
Infectious Diseases Hospital (BRIDH), barely a week after the plague was
first detected.

More than 2 000 people have been infected with the disease.

Cholera, which last killed 4 000 people in 2008, is most common in places
with poor sanitation, crowding, war, and famine.

The latest outbreak was first detected in Harare’s Glen View and Budiriro
high-density suburbs after a 26-year-old woman died upon admission at
BRIDH on Thursday last week.

“It is clear now that we have an epicentre in Glen View and Budiriro and
so far 20 deaths have been recorded and that does not include what might
happen with today’s situation,” said Moyo.

“Because of that, I have declared an emergency on Harare to monitor this
outbreak. Thematic teams will be working specifically on their sections to
contain the outbreak,” he added.

Moyo said government’s major headache in the affected areas has been the
schools, where they have had to suspend classes at Glen View 5 Primary
School after decommissioning a borehole, which caused the illness and
subsequent deaths of some children.

“We may do the same in some other schools until we can provide fresh
water,” he said.

“We have isolated three species of germs in the water, that is,
salmonella, E Coli and one that causes typhoid. The doctors have noticed
that there is some resistance to some antibiotics but others are being
received. We have asked for assistance from our partners namely Unicef,
Delta Corporation, World Health Organisation and Medecins Sans
Frontieres,” Moyo said.

He said interventions also included increasing the nursing staff at the
Budiriro and Glen View treatment centres and at BRIDH.

All wells in the affected areas have been closed and alternative sources
are being provided for by the assisting partners.

Moyo blasted the Harare City Council (HCC) for ignoring burst sewers for
months, while exposing people to cholera.

“We realised that someone was sitting on their laurels. In this case HCC
has had a big problem and it arose after blocked sewers which were
reported and not attended to for two months. Now we have ended up with the
whole of Glen View and Budiriro being infected.

“The other problem is that garbage has not been collected regularly and no
water availability as well. The other major problem is of vending meat and
fish and we have agreed to police the affected area strictly including
during the night with the help of the Zimbabwe Republic Police,” Moyo
said.

Public health specialist Prosper Chonzi told the Daily News that the
reoccurrence of typhoid in Glen View and Budiriro was because of feacal
matter mixing with food.

Chonzi said the moment burst sewers go unattended for long and have oral
contact with humans because cholera has a short incubation period before
someone starts showing signs of illness.

“The natural habitat for cholera is sewer and if it is disturbed and gets
into contact with people orally through contaminated food and water,
people will definitely get sick. People wash their fruit and vegetables
with contaminated water and get sick. The problem with the affected areas
is that all their underground water is contaminated with salmonella vibrio
which causes cholera. One of the tested boreholes had countless bacteria.
To avoid any more loss of lives people should go to the clinic the moment
they start vomiting,” Chonzi said.

Harare Mayor Herbert Gomba said council has increased the staff at their
treatment centres in order to treat the influx of patients.

He said the city together with development partners and corporates had
taken water bowsers to Glen View to service the community.

“The burst sewers are now being attended to and people are getting water.
We have sent out teams of health workers into the community to monitor the
situation and report back,” Gomba said.

According to latest reports from the ministry of health, cholera has
spread to Midlands, Mashonaland Central, Masvingo and Manicaland
provinces.

The spread could, however, be accelerated by relatives who go and bury the
deceased in their rural homes without monitoring from health workers.

Ideally, when a person dies from cholera they should be buried in the
place they contracted the disease to avoid possibly contaminating a new
area.

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