Africa-Press – Nigeria. The number of people who died amid a cholera outbreak in Hammanskraal, north of Pretoria, has risen to 12, according to the Gauteng health department.
Department spokesperson Motalatale Modiba said on Monday morning that two more people had died overnight. He said seven people were in hospital, and around 95 people had sought treatment for diarrhoeal disease since Monday, 15 May.
The department announced, on Sunday, that there was a cholera outbreak in the area after lab results were positive for the stool specimens of 19 people who presented at Jubilee District Hospital with symptoms of diarrhoea, stomach cramps and nausea.
Modiba said anyone who has symptoms should go to their nearest clinic. He appealed to people to practise hand hygiene, especially when handling food, and to disinfect home surfaces.
Tshwane Mayor Cilliers Brink is expected to visit the hospital on Monday.
The healthcare facility has been receiving people from Suurman, Kanana, Majaneng and Greenfield over the past week.
The City of Tshwane has also appealed to residents to refrain from drinking tap water. It urged residents to use bleach to clean water containers and to refrain from conducting religious activities, such as baptisms, in rivers or streams.
The City said it regularly conducted tests on the quality of water. Following the outbreak, comprehensive tests will be conducted on the entire water distribution network. The results are expected on Wednesday.
“The City is eagerly awaiting the confirmatory test results from the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) to establish the cause of the outbreak,” it said in a statement.
The cumulative number of positive cholera cases had increased to 37 on Sunday, following the detection of four more cases in Gauteng, and seven in the Vredefort and Parys areas in the Free State.
For More News And Analysis About Nigeria Follow Africa-Press
