Ten cases of the extreme drug-resistant tuberculosis (XDR-TB) have been reported in North West, the provincial department of health said on Friday.
Spokesperson Lesiba Molala said four people have since died from the disease, while six others were being monitored at the Tshepong hospital complex in Klerksdorp.
”Whenever we identify a case we screen the affected person’s immediate family members to check if they are infected or not,” Molala said.
He said community health workers and district TB coordinators were monitoring their areas, especially in the Bojanala district — where three of the reported cases were identified — and the Bophirima and the Kosh areas.
Molala could not say when the four people died, saying only that they died way before the beginning of this year.
”This is not a new case, we’ve had these incidents since 2002 and we encourage people to finish their treatment.”
Other provinces affected by the outbreak are Gauteng, Free State and KwaZulu-Natal.
KwaZulu-Natal has the highest number of reported incidents and a total of 74 people have died since last year. — Sapa