The Sunday News
Robin Muchetu, Senior Reporter
THE Bulawayo City Council has dismissed eight suspected cases of typhoid reported at Mpilo Central Hospital and Galen House last week, allaying fears of a possible outbreak of the disease.
This comes as Harare has so far reported 12 typhoid cases and two deaths as a result, with the city said to account for about 76 percent of overall cases of the disease reported countrywide.
In a statement, council senior public relations officer Mrs Nesisa Mpofu said no typhoid cases had been confirmed in Bulawayo yet.
Seven suspected typhoid cases were reported at Mpilo Central Hospital and one at Galen House. Mrs Mpofu said the local authority’s Emergency Response and Preparedness team investigated the suspected cases and found them not to be typhoid.
She allayed fears of a possible outbreak stating that the city was generally not typhoid endemic and its water sources were safe.
“Bulawayo tap water is safe; typhoid is not endemic in the city, meaning no confirmed transmission of the disease has been reported. There have been several cases of suspected typhoid in the city this week. Seven from Mpilo Central Hospital and one from Galen House. Our Emergency Response and Preparedness team has investigated these and found them to be non-typhoid,” she said.
Mrs Mpofu, however, said the city remained on alert and had put in place an emergency preparedness plan to tackle any possible outbreaks.
She encouraged residents to observe high hygienic practices, which include drinking and using safe water, boiling water from unsafe sources before use, storing water in clean and covered containers, proper and thorough washing of hands and eating properly cooked and hot meals.
“Residents are encouraged to adopt hygienic practices like hand washing after visiting the bathrooms, drinking water from safe sources and if in doubt boil. Proper disposal of waste should be practised by residents always,” said Mrs Mpofu.
She also encouraged prompt treatment at onset of symptoms of the disease.
Typhoid is an infectious disease of the intestines that is caused by bacteria Salmonella typhi. Signs and symptoms of typhoid usually appear after one to three weeks after exposure and may be mild or severe. The symptoms include poor appetite, abdominal pain, headaches, generalised aches and pains, fever, intestinal bleeding or perforation (after two to three weeks of the disease), diarrhoea or constipation, enlarged spleen or liver and rose coloured spot on chest among other signs.
The disease is primarily transmitted through the faeco oral route (the faeces of the infected person indirectly contaminating food or water). Drinking water that has come into contact with sewage can also cause the disease.
