Cholera outbreak claims five in Harare

TAURAI MANGUDHLA

HARARE – Five people have died in a suspected cholera outbreak in Harare.

Health and Child Care Minister David Parirenyatwa said 11 cases of cholera had been confirmed  out of 35 admissions at Harare’s Beatrice Road Infectious Diseases Hospital (BRIDH) by late afternoon.

Parirenyatwa said one person had died at the hospital while four others have died in the communities, being Budiriro and Glen View.

“The outbreak has affected Glenview and Budiriro, especially Glenview 3”, he said during  a tour of BRIDH, adding two boreholes were suspected to be contaminated.

“Our teams have gone on the ground to take samples for testing. If they are contaminated then they shall be shut down for now.”

Parirenyatwa urged members of the public to report cholera cases timeously. Being an emergency, he said, treatment was free of charge.

“There were cases of diarrhea, severe diarrhea and vomiting which is very typical of cholera. There are people from Glenview and Budiriro, particularly from Glenview 3. We have thirty-five people admitted here most of them very typical of cholera, but eleven cases have been confirmed after test,” he said.

“We are certain the team in Harare has arrested this very quickly.”

Parirenyatwa said his department was now using contact tracing to try and arrest the scourge.

“We are trying to understand where they came from, who else have been in contact with,” he said.

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