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Typhoid scare hits Mbare

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HARARE City Council has sounded alarm bells following a suspected typhoid outbreak which claimed one life and left 30 others hospitalised in Mbare over the weekend

HARARE City Council has sounded alarm bells following a suspected typhoid outbreak which claimed one life and left 30 others hospitalised in Mbare over the weekend.

BY MUNESU NYAKUDYA

Council spokesperson Michael Chideme, in a statement yesterday, confirmed the incident and said the local authority had introduced precautionary measures including awareness campaigns to curb the spread of the disease.

“The [deceased] girl was initially admitted at Harare Central Hospital and was transferred to the Beatrice Infectious Diseases Hospital on Saturday. She died on admission. She had been unwell for some time,” he said.

Chideme said the deceased’s siblings had also been admitted after exhibiting similar symptoms.

“On further investigations about 30 people on 8th and 9th streets in Mbare were then treated for suspected typhoid. At the moment, nine people from the area are admitted and several others receiving treatment as a precautionary measure.

“The city has provisionally singled out a borehole in the area as the source of the problem. The borehole is not properly secured a factor which might cause runoff water and sewer to seep through and cause illnesses,” he said.

Chideme urged residents in the affected area to seek early treatment if they suspect they could have been infected.

Common typhoid symptoms include fever, headache, general body weakness and abdominal discomfort with or without diarrhoea.