Six suspected cases of cholera have been reported in KwaZulu-Natal (KZN), the provincial health department said on Friday.
Five of those people currently being monitored were admitted to hospital early this month, after eating food that was suspected to have been poisoned at a farewell party at the Zululand Primary School, said department spokesperson Chris Maxon.
One person is from Nongoma, whose source of water is a nearby dam.
”If someone has diarrhoea for more than three to five days, then they become suspect and we investigate to determine if they have cholera,” he said.
”A trucker, who has since died, and another patient are the only two confirmed cases of cholera in the province. Both had travelled to Zimbabwe.”
The trucker was admitted at Durban’s Addington Hospital after he and his brother checked into a local Durban Lodge where he started vomiting and suffering from diarrhoea.
His brother was also placed under observation, but did not show any symptoms.
Health officials had tracked all the people the man had been in contact with since his arrival in Durban, and the lodge where the two men had stayed had been decontaminated.
The truck-driver died on November 22 while another patient also confirmed to have had the disease was stabilised and discharged on December 4.
Maxon said the department was sending health workers to communities to educate them about how to avoid contracting the waterborne disease.
He said the public must bear in mind that cholera had a tendency of re-occurring after seven to 10 years, therefore they must not think that the disease was only from Zimbabwe.
”We [the province] had cases of cholera in 2001. The public must be aware of the resurgence of cholera from the last outbreak considering that we’ve had a lot of floods.
”The source is not only Zimbabwe.” — Sapa