Fake news alert: No, there isn’t a typhoid fever outbreak in Tshwane

The City of Tshwane Health Department on Wednesday dismissed claims circulating among residents about a typhoid fever outbreak in the province.

There have also been no reported fatalities.

Alleged typhoid fever outbreak

Only 43 cases to date

MMC for Health in Tshwane, Rina Marx, said the reports are not based on facts and “create unnecessary panic amongst residents”.

She said called on residents “to always verify information and not spread fake news”.

Marx said to date, only 43 typhoid cases have been recorded in Tshwane [from December 2021].

Thypoid fever symptoms

Thyroid fever – also known as Enteric fever – is a systemic illness caused by bacterial infection with Salmonella typhi, which spreads by eating contaminated food or water.

Marx said it transmits from person to person and is a notifiable disease which should be reported to the Department of Health.

Symptoms include:

• Intermittent fever during the first week
• Sustained fever lasting more than 48 hours thereafter
• Headache
• Abdominal pain or cramps
• Nausea and vomiting
• Constipation or diarrhoea
• Flu-like symptoms may also occur

Previous typhoid fever outbreak fears

Back in February, similar rumours of typhoid fever outbreaks in Gauteng, as well as the Western cape and North West, had South Africa at the collective edge of our seats.

A fresh batch of rumours spread online in August 2022, when residents in Msunduzi, KwaZulu-Natal feared their drinking water may be contaminated.

The City released a statement to address the claims and assured residents the municipal water reserves were safe to drink.

It had also been determined earlier that the cases were not geographically linked “and remain sporadic with no indication of an outbreak”.

ALSO READ: ‘We want more toilets, access to water’ – Centurion shack dwellers

No evidence of contaminated water

The National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD), however, said there was no evidence to link the few cases to the quality of municipal drinking water.

It cautioned residents to remain calm “as there was no need for panic”.

In fact, the NICD said the number of reported typhoid fever cases in South Africa has declined over the last few decades, and larger outbreaks have become less common.

Prior to the scare in February 2022, the most recent large outbreak occurred in Delmas in 2005, with over 2 900 cases.