Cape Town - The National Department of Health on Thursday confirmed the first cholera outbreak-related case and death in Mpumalanga province.
Department spokesperson, Foster Mohale said this brought the cholera outbreak-related death toll in South Africa to 25, following the death of the 73-year-old Mpumalanga patient.
“A 73 year old female patient who is residing at Phaphamang Section in Phake Dr JS Moroka, was admitted at Mmametlhake hospital on May 26, 2023 with diarrhoea, nausea and vomiting after eating tin fish during the day,” he said.
Spokesperson Mandla Zwane said the patient was known to be on hypertension treatment.
“A cholera sample was taken and forwarded to the laboratory for investigation. Interim result showed cholera-positive. The final result confirmed that the patient is indeed cholera-positive. The patient unfortunately died on May 30, 2023 at the hospital,” said Zwane.
The department has now deployed an outbreak response team in Dr JS Moroka to investigate possible sources of infection, contact tracing and community awareness campaigns.
Initially, cholera cases were only recorded in Gauteng, the Free State and Limpopo.
On Tuesday, the department clarified that no cases have been reported in North West.
“It was discovered during the discussions with North West health officials that two cases were already reported under Gauteng, because the two patients were screened, tested and diagnosed with cholera while they were in Hammanskraal. The positive cases and deaths are counted under the province or district in which they were tested, not where the patients reside. This means, the province of North West has no confirmed cases nor outbreak of cholera at the current moment,” said Mohale.
Cape Times