Medinfo, the medical information consultancy, has issued a warning to people travelling to Zimbabwe after deaths due to cholera were confirmed by the local government.
Cholera has claimed the lives of 24 people in Zimbabwe in the past month.
The disease first broke out in the Chiredzana area of Masvingo; spreading to the Fuve area a week later. The Zimbabwean government and the local Red Cross Society launched massive water and sanitation projects in an attempt to prevent further outbreaks and, according to the Zimbabwe Ministry of Health and Child Welfare, the most recent case of cholera in the region was reported during the last week of September — which would suggest that the situation is under control.
Dr Andrew Jamieson, medical director of the SAA-Netcare Travel Clinics network said 458 cases of the contagious disease had been reported in Zimbabwe.
Medinfo also warned travellers of a cholera outbreak in Ghana and a yellow fever outbreak in Senegal.
The cholera outbreak in the Kwahu South district of Ghana’s Eastern Region, which began at the end of September, is the continuation of repeated incidents of the disease since 2000, when the supply of pipe-borne water to the afflicted region was cut off.
Urgent measures had been taken to curb the outbreak, including education campaigns on personal hygiene. The local population had been advised to drink only pipe-borne water; and to boil water from other sources prior to using it for cooking or drinking.
“Both yellow fever and cholera are acute and highly infectious diseases … [but are] preventable through appropriate vaccination and hygiene measures,” Jamieson said.