At least 440 cases of malaria have been reported in Limpopo, provincial health department spokesperson Cecil Motsepe said on Wednesday.
“During the last two weeks, an increase in the notification of malaria cases was observed in Limpopo.
“This increase is mostly confined to the known malaria high-risk areas; the north-eastern parts of Vhembe district and eastern Mopani.”
Three people died from malaria in the Musina, Donald Fraser and Malamulele hospitals last week.
“Although this increase does not constitute an outbreak or epidemic yet, the department is concerned and we are monitoring the situation closely,” Motsepe said in a statement.
Malaria control programme
“We are ensuring that all cases are fully investigated and responded to.”
He said the department had a malaria control programme in place to control and reduce incidents.
“For this season we targeted 985 000 houses to be sprayed and we are proud to announce that the programme is progressing smoothly after managing to spray more than 540 000 of these houses.”
The spraying started in September last year.
Each year, more than 250-million cases of malaria are reported worldwide, killing between one and three million people, the majority of whom are young children.
Ninety percent of malaria-related deaths, commonly associated with poverty, take place in sub-Saharan Africa. – Sapa