1500 suspected cases of typhoid in Gweru
By Patrick Chitumba
The death toll due to the typhoid outbreak in Gweru has risen to eight with the cumulative total of suspected cases now over 1 500. Gweru typhoid taskforce coordinator, Dr Simon Nyadundu, said as of yesterday, 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 are confirmed and zero are probable cases. Eight deaths have been reported since declaration of outbreak on August 6,” he said.
“Yesterday 38 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 staff at council and Government health institutions.
“We have teams on the ground and we mobilised more staff from other districts 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 visited patients admitted at Gweru Provincial Hospital, Mkoba 1 Clinic and Mkoba 13 Clinic to assess the impact of the outbreak.
He said patients admitted or seeking treatment for typhoid were spread across the city contrary to an earlier council report that the outbreak was confined to just a section of Mkoba suburb covering Villages 15, 18, 19 and 20.
The Minister 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 disease. The Chronicle
