Two people are suspected to have died due to the Malaria two weeks ago in the province.
The deaths occurred at the Tintswalo Hospital in Acornhoek which registered 36 Malaria cases between the month of April and May in the Bushbuckridge area.
During the two months, a total of 585 malaria cases were reported in the whole Mpumalanga province. This year’s numbers are higher than that of 2016 which recorded 499 during the same period.
About 294 of the cases have been reported in the Bushbuckridge area particularly Acornhoek, Welverdiend, Marite, Dumfries and Seville villages. 235 were local transmissions and only 59 were imported from Limpopo and countries such as Mozambique and Zimbabwe where the disease is endemic. In the Thaba-Chwewu Local Municipality, about 23 cases were reported of which 20 are imported.
The Department activated Response Teams to assess the situation and conduct investigations in both sub-districts.
“More human resource has been deployed in Bushbuckridge area to assist with investigation and interventions to contain and control the situation, which so far includes, spraying in the affected areas and health education to the communities,” said the department.
The MEC for Health in Mpumalanga, Mr Gillion Mashego assured the people of Mpumalanga and the country that the province still remains the safest place to visit. “We would like to assure our people and those who are visiting the province that we have everything under control. Our Malaria teams are on the ground to contain the disease. All our health facilities are ready to deal with the Malaria outbreak. We encourage everyone to ensure that they test for the disease to ensure that they remain safe.” said Mashego.
