The number of confirmed typhoid cases in Delmas, Mpumalanga, rose to 100 on Friday, but the situation is gradually being brought under control, health officials said.
”Everyone has clean water now and if precautions are taken, and water is purified, we are convinced the situation will clear up,” said provincial health department spokesperson John Mlangeni.
He said up to 700 people are now suffering from diarrhoea, but despite burgeoning figures, proper management and precautions should see the outbreak in Delmas brought under control.
People are streaming into local clinics, where extra nurses have been deployed.
Most of the sufferers are being sent to hospitals in Witbank and Gauteng.
”Depending on our reports, a proposal has been mooted for the South African National Defence Force to establish a field hospital in the area,” said Mlangeni.
This decision will be taken by senior provincial officials.
He said indications from tests carried out on the water supply showed that the whole underground lake under Delmas is infected with E coli.
The lake feeds reservoirs, many of which tested positive for faecal matter.
Clean water has been sent into the area, with additional water being donated by Rand Water.
Rand Water is working with Ekurhuleni metro officials to provide the community with safe drinking water.
”Our work so far has been focused on providing emergency water to schools and to residents in the area,” said Yolisa Tyantsi, Rand Water spokesperson.
Rand Water started to deliver the water on Wednesday morning, and Ekurhuleni emergency services provided a fire truck to transport it.
”For a long-term solution to the problem, Rand Water has met with the municipal manager in order to discuss the connection of Delmas to the Rand Water bulk distribution network. This will ensure the provision of good-quality drinking water to the people of Delmas,” Tyantsi said.
Education campaign
Meanwhile, the Ekurhuleni municipality has begun an education campaign following rumours that its waters were contaminated with typhoid fever.
”The campaign comes amid unfounded rumours that Ekurhuleni water is contaminated with the disease,” municipality spokesperson Zweli Dlamini said in a statement.
He said the health department has already printed pamphlets — spelling out the symptoms, infectious agent, mode of transmission, incubation stage and the preventative measures that can be followed — to be handed out to the public.
The education programme started on Friday and will run for two weeks.
”Residents can consume our water without fear as regular tests have proven that there is nothing wrong with [it],” Dlamini said.
Unsanitary disposal of human faeces, unpurified water and a lack of education are all contributing factors that lead to typhoid.
Lucille Blumberg, head of the outbreak unit at the National Institute for Communicable Diseases, said that while there are not reliable statistics, sporadic cases of typhoid do occur throughout South Africa.
”Typhoid fever is a bacterial infection caused by Salmonella typhi. This bacterium infects only humans and does not come from animals. The bacterium is transmitted by the faecal-oral route and can also be found in urine,” Blumberg said.
Symptoms are either mild or severe and start relatively slowly, and the fatality rate is low if appropriate antibiotics are administered.
”Most people will recover fully with the right treatment. A few individuals may continue to carry the bacteria in their gut or urine and can be a source of infection for others,” Blumberg said. — Sapa