WATCH | Health officials on high alert at ports of entry amid cholera outbreak

The national department of health has alerted ports of entry in the country to be on high alert amid the cholera outbreak.  

The acting chief director of communicable diseases control in the department, Aneliswa Cele, was talking during the department’s webinar on implications of the outbreak and better equipping front-line health workers.  

At least 15 people have died from the outbreak. 

Cele said there was a high possibility of continued importation of cases to South Africa given the cholera outbreak in parts of Southern Africa.

“We have alerted our ports of entry. Our ports health officials are on the alert. If they pick up any traveller with symptoms they are able to alert us, and the outbreak response team is activated,” she said.  

The director-general of the department, Dr Sandile Buthelezi, called on the country to treat every case of diarrhoeal disease as cholera until proven otherwise amid the outbreak.  

Buthelezi said he had asked public specialists at hospitals to analyse the 15 fatalities.  

“We are worried. The rate of fatalities, close to 50%, is very high. We had about 34 cases and 15 deaths. That is a high fatality rate. We hope they will do the line listing so that by this afternoon [Tuesday], when we meet, we have more information,” he said.  

He reiterated the department wanted everyone in the country to be on alert.

Cele said the department was aware cholera has become a global concern since mid-2021 and there has been a significant increase in cases.  

“The primary mode of transmission has been linked to climate change. We cannot deny that. We can see what is happening in our country with the floods we are experiencing and limited access to clean water, sanitation and hygiene services,” she said.

Cele said as of May 21 this year, cholera cases were reported in at least 24 countries globally and 15 countries in Africa, including South Africa.  

TimesLIVE Premium reported that at least two dozen cholera-related fatalities have been reported in Zimbabwe in recent days. 

Cele said at this stage the outbreak was contained within two provinces, Gauteng and the Free State, where many infections had been reported. 

“We have recently learnt about one case in one province and have to get the details. This is why this webinar becomes very important because learning from these two provinces will guide the rest of the country,” she said.

LISTEN HERE: 

Cele said there was a rapid increase in the number of local transmissions.  

“Clinicians are urged to maintain a high index of suspicions for cholera in patients who present with acute watery diarrhoea. In terms of reporting it is very important this information gets through to us.”  

She urged clinicians to be more vigilant when they receive patients during the outbreak.  

Cele said surveillance measures should be strengthened to enable early detection. “That is why in Free State we already have a national team on the ground that is helping to support, because surveillance becomes critical so we are able to contain it at source.”

TimesLIVE

Support independent journalism by subscribing to the Sunday Times. Just R20 for the first month.