Africa-Press – Botswana. Botswana continues to be alert after registering 36 new cases of Malaria and zero deaths in the second week of this month.
In a press briefing recently, public health institute acting executive director, Dr Lebapotswe Tlale, said 20 cases were recorded in Okavango, two in Gaborone and Chobe respectively, five in Bobirwa while both Tutume and Ngami had a case each.
Therefore, Dr Tlale warned the public to be extra careful to avoid contracting Malaria because January was a rainy season, as such cases were likely to surge.
He said 104 cases of diarrhoea with dehydration were also recorded while one person had died in Ghanzi.
“Gaborone District recorded 18 cases and remains the highest in statistics. This constitutes over 20 per cent increase compared to the previous report compiled as at end of December last year,” he said, adding that a 39 per cent decrease was recorded in the number of diarrhoea with blood.
Further, he said two measles cases were confirmed among children under the age of four in Tonota and the duo had not been vaccinated.He added that only one Acute Flaccid Paralysis case was reported in Francistown.
“This is a pleasing report to the public health institute because it demonstrates that the country has strengthened its Polio surveillance,” he added.
During week one of this month, he said rabies exposure had decreased by 24 per cent from 59 to 45 cases in the current week.
Dr Tlale further indicated that 6 214 influenza-like illness cases were reported nationwide during the second week of January, something he said was a sharp increase from 5 941 cases registered at end of December last year.
“No hospitalisation was made from this surveillance.
However, this leaves the country on alert,” he said. Consequently, he advised all DHMTs to ensure that their public health emergency structures were aware of the notifiable disease situation in order to enable prompt action plans to be taken immediately to address any anomaly.
Regarding the COVID-19 pandemic, Dr Tlale said Botswana had recorded 292 new cases in the first week of this month (Jan 1-7), bringing the number of cumulative cases to 328 541, while one death was recorded during the period under review.
He added that the number of cumulative deaths stood at 2 788 at mid-January with a recovery rate of 99.2 per cent.
Meanwhile, across African regions, he said Uganda had declared an end of the Ebola disease caused by Sudan virus, which affected nine districts.
“With 42 consecutive days of no record of a confirmed case, the outbreak could be deemed contained,” he said.
He also reported an outbreak of meningitis in Niger with high case fatality rate.
He said the area was faced with multiple disease outbreaks and humanitarian crises, especially among the Dungass region, which was characterizsed by civil wars.
Based on the latter, Dr Tlale said the high insecurity experienced in the region made it difficult for health authorities to control the outbreak.
Moreover, he said new monkey-pox cases had dropped throughout Africa with only DRC reporting new cases among the 13 African countries that were currently experiencing similar outbreaks.
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