The Department of Health, upon learning about the cholera outbreak in Zimbabwe on 24 August, activated all district outbreak response teams at ports of entry, including the Beitbridge Border Post and Musina Hospital.
Departmental spokesperson Neil Shikwambana in a statement said they had increased surveillance of diarrhoeal diseases in all public health facilities. He added that there was ongoing health education in communities about diarrheal diseases such as typhoid and cholera.
Although there are no cases of cholera and typhoid reported in the province yet, Health MEC Phophi Ramathuba accompanied by health experts visited Beitbridge and the Musina Hospital on Friday as part of the province’s readiness plan to prevent the outbreak thereof.
The visit was in response to the reported outbreak in Zimbabwe, allegedly due to an overburdened sewage system. Zimbabwe has reportedly in excess of 2 000 confirmed cases of cholera and 24 deaths.
In a voice clip, Ramathuba said the department had to ensure that systems are in place to prevent the diseases since Limpopo borders on Zimbabwe. “Our health professionals are hard at work and we want to make sure that all our health institutions are alert and report diarrhoea cases to be investigated. There are no reported cases thus far and we have deployed four health officials to Musina to perform medical checks on anyone crossing the border,” Ramathuba explained. She stressed that no one would be able to enter the country without being assessed by the medical team. The national Health Department will also deploy more officials to Musina.
Story: ENDY SENYATSI
>>endy@observer.co.za
