Cholera response teams activated in Chiredzi

THE Government has activated rapid response teams to Chiredzi district which has become a cholera hotspot following a surge in cases over the past few days.

Since Thursday last week, the district has been reporting the highest number of new cholera cases with 43 cases reported on Saturday, while 58 cases were recorded on Friday and 41 cases on Thursday.

The number of hospitalised cases have also increased significantly from 17 on Thursday to 102 on Saturday.

Secretary for Health and Child Care Dr Aspect Maunganidze said this fresh outbreak had been reported in Mapanza area in Chiredzi.

“We have recorded a spike in cases mainly in the resettlement areas where there are no proper sanitation facilities. There is also no clean water supply and the people there are using water from canals. Our rapid response teams are now on the ground and the situation is being managed. What we now need to work on is making sure that the villages have access to aqua tabs,” he said.

Dr Maunganidze said the cases in Mapanza had contributed to the spike in cases in care within the district, where cholera treatment centres have since been set up.

He said the Ministry of Health and partners had already set up two treatment tents while a third one would be erected today adding that pictures of patients receiving Intravenous fluids (IV fluids) while lying on the ground at Mapanza which had been posted on social media yesterday were taken as the rapid response teams were setting up cholera treatment tents.

“In the management of cholera, whenever patients are referred to the nearest health centre, we do not advise health workers to move them into the facility where there are other patients.

“However, rapid response teams are deployed to the site and they go prepared with IV fluids, antibiotics and other sundries and medicines. Only those critical patients in need of the intensive care unit will then be moved into the hospitals,” he said.

Government has been implementing various strategies in response to the cholera outbreak which was first detected in February last year.

To date the country has recorded 17 730 suspected cholera cases, 2 136 confirmed cases, 318 suspected deaths and 71 confirmed deaths. The case fatality rate stands at 2,2 percent.

The outbreak has spread to 59 districts in the country.