The Department of Health in Mpumalanga has confirmed its first case of cholera. This after a woman died in hospital after testing positive.
RELATED STORY: “It is tragic and appalling that people are dying from cholera in SA in 2023.”
According to Foster Mohale, the spokesperson for the National Minister of Health, the patient was a 73-year-old woman from Phake. She was admitted to the Mmametlhake Hospital on 26 May with diarrhea and nausea.
FIRST CASE OF CHOLERA CONFIRMED IN MPUMALANGA PROVINCE.https://t.co/xlMEscQeXW
— Mpumalanga Health (@MpuHealth1) May 31, 2023
Mohale confirmed the elderly woman’s death.
“She was a known patient on hypertension treatment,” said Mandla Zwane, Mpumalanga’s health spokesperson. A cholera sample was taken for lab testing: the results confirmed that the patient was “indeed cholera positive”.
The elderly woman’s death brings the total number of cholera deaths to 25. Mpumalanga’s Health Department says it has deployed an outbreak response team to investigate possible sources of infection.
At the media briefing today Minister of Health Dr Joe Phaahla said that the current #CholeraOutbreak disease in South Africa can be traced from the first two cases reported by Gauteng Province on 05 February 2023. https://t.co/s09ueja0S6 pic.twitter.com/d5l9XfgAxv
— Department of Health (@HealthZA) May 31, 2023
It added that contact tracing and the launch of community awareness campaigns are underway. Meanwhile, health officials are still working to find the source of the cholera outbreak, which has left the Hammanskraal community reeling.
RELATED STORY: What is Cholera? Signs, Symptoms and Treatment
Cholera is a disease caused by the vibrio cholera bacteria. The disease spreads through the consumption of contaminated water. To find out more about cholera:
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