The Sunday News
Munyaradzi Musiiwa
At least two people have died of suspected cholera while 26 others have reportedly been taken ill following an outbreak in Mount Darwin, an official has said.
Mt Darwin district nursing officer Sister Anna Chinyemba confirmed that one person died on Sunday, while another died Monday morning.
Sister Chinyemba said all the cases were reported in Mukaradzi mining area, with artisanal miners being the most affected.
All the patients who are affected are being attended to at Mt Darwin Hospital.
The Ministry of Health and Child Care has since called an urgent meeting in an effort to combat the deadly disease.
“We have a problem of cholera which started on Sunday. So far we have 26 patients who are admitted at the hospital. We have two deaths so far. The other patient who was affected died on their way to the hospital and while another patient died yesterday at the Hospital.
“The people who are affected are coming from Mukaradzi mining area. We are trying all that we can to help the people who are affected. Preliminary investigations indicated that it could be cholera, because the symptoms that patients are showing are similar to those of Cholera,” she said.
“However we have sent some samples to the laboratory to ascertain that it is cholera. However we are treating it as such”.
Sister Chinyemba said the cholera outbreak could be caused by poor sanitation in the mining area. Mukaradzi mine is about 25km from Mt Darwin growth point, and fears are that it could spread to other neighbouring districts such as Bindura.
“We suspect that the outbreak could have been caused by poor sanitation, since most of the mining activities taking place in the area are illegal. The area is congested because there is illegal vending taking place yet there are no safe water sources. Most of the people affected are men.”
She said Government is making frantic efforts to try and combat the disease and avoid a possible spread to its environs.
“Although as a hospital we were prepared to deal with cholera, indications are that the number could go up and we might soon be overwhelmed. We will need assistance and reinforcement from Government to bolster our personnel and medicine stocks.
“We urge people in the district to practise hygiene to prevent cholera. We also urge people to report cases of diarrhoea and abdominal disorder early to avoid loss of lives,” she said.
