KADOMA health officials yesterday said they were now on high alert after six confirmed cases of typhoid were reported in the city last week. Report by Blessed Mhlanga Staff Reporter
“Typhoid cases increasing, now have six confirmed, please observe good hygiene,” read a text massage from council’s health director Daniel Chirundu.
Mayor Peter Matambo has since confirmed the local authority is now on high alert with the aim of containing the outbreak which in recent months hit parts of Harare.
“We have started setting up tents around the city where all suspected cases are isolated, investigated and dealt with before the situation can get out of hand. Remember in 2008 we were hard hit by a cholera outbreak which almost wiped out our people here and we would not want a repeat of that,” said Matambo. Matambo said council had not yet established the cause of the outbreak, but attributed it to water scarcity.
“The cases started during the past two weeks when a serious power blackout affected pumping at Claw Dam and we went dry for two weeks. This is, however, not conclusive because we are not yet sure of the sources. We just call on our people to exercise high levels of cleanliness so that we can mitigate against these problems as we move to clean our city.”
Authority on high alert
“WE have started setting up tents around the city where all suspected cases are isolated, investigated and dealt with before the situation can get out of hand. Remember in 2008 we were hard hit by a cholera outbreak which almost wiped out our people here and we would not want a repeat of that.” — MATAMBO
