Durban — The KwaZulu-Natal Department of Health has indicated that it is on alert although no cholera cases have been reported in the province.
KwaZulu-Natal Health Department spokesperson Ntokozo Maphisa said the province had no cholera cases.
“However, the province is on alert, and is on standby to mount an effective response should the need arise.”
The provincial health department was reacting to Health Minister Dr Joe Phaahla who said the country was not at a high risk of a cholera outbreak as South Africa does not share an immediate border with Malawi.
This comes after the country recorded two laboratory-confirmed cases of cholera imported from Malawi. The two cases are sisters who had travelled from Johannesburg to Malawi, and returned by bus on January 30. Both developed symptoms on their return to Joburg.
Phaahla said although there was a risk on the Eastern side of the border as SA shared the border with Mozambique, the numbers in Mozambique were low with 3 000 while Malawi had 38 000.
Speaking to broadcaster Newzroom Afrika, he said it was possible that cholera may have spread to other passengers in the bus, but emphasised that the risk would be minimal.
“It would be those who may have shared some utensils during the trip, close people who may be friends of family. As it was a long-distance trip they could be affected by the provision of food and water,” explained Phaahla.
He said if the bus had ablution facilities there might have been some contamination there. He said the national health team from Gauteng was following up on tracing the passengers.
“It takes about two to five days mostly for symptoms to occur, so the passengers would have presented themselves to health facilities by now.”
He added that a third person who was also showing cholera symptoms had been admitted to hospital.
“As of Sunday, the laboratory was still processing the specimen to test for cholera,” said Phaahla.
He explained that cholera was an acute enteric infection caused by the Vibrio cholerae bacteria, and the outbreaks usually occur in settings with inadequate sanitation and insufficient access to safe drinking water.
“It mainly spreads through contaminated/polluted water. People can become infected directly through drinking contaminated water, or indirectly through eating contaminated food. The infection is often mild or without symptoms, but can sometimes be severe and life-threatening,” he said.
Symptoms range from mild to severe with watery diarrhoea and dehydration. The incubation period (the period from when the person ingests cholera-contaminated water/food to when they first become ill) ranges from a few hours to five days, usually two to three days. Most persons infected with cholera will experience mild illness or not feel ill.
The department was working closely with the affected province, the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) and the World Health Organization (WHO) to closely monitor the situation. The WHO said it does not recommend any travel or trade restrictions on countries based on current available information in line with the international health regulations.
“The port health officials at the ports of entry (especially land and air) will remain on alert for travellers arriving from countries experiencing a cholera outbreak,” said the WHO.
Phaahla said South Africa was not endemic for cholera, and the last outbreak was in 2008/9 with about 12 000 cases, which resulted from an outbreak in Zimbabwe that led to a surge of imported cases, and subsequent local transmission in Mpumalanga and Limpopo provinces through contaminated water.
WhatsApp your views on this story to 071 485 7995
Daily News