War on listeriosis

NATURE has an uncanny way of reasserting who really is in charge. It has a tendency of throwing a curve ball in the form of deadly viruses or bacteria to remind us that humankind is only a tiny speck in the bigger scheme of things.

In the last quarter century or so, a number of outbreaks have had governments and the World Health Organisation scrambling to find treatments to bring rare diseases under control.

Images of panic-stricken people in Asia wearing face masks as they tried to avoid Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome are etched in our memories. SARS, a viral respiratory illness caused by a corona virus, is marked by respiratory symptoms, mainly cough, dyspnea and pneumonia.

While SARS kills about 10% of patients with a confirmed infection, the mortality rate for those over 50 years old approaches 50%. Between November 2002 and July 2003, more than 8 000 cases were reported, mainly in southern China, resulting in 774 deaths reported in 37 countries.

While the world was taking a break from SARS, another virus – Ebola – struck with a vengeance in West Africa, mainly in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone. The first cases of this most recent outbreak of Ebola, a rare and deadly disease most commonly affecting people and non-human primates such as monkeys, gorillas and chimpanzees, were recorded in Guinea in December 2013, later crossing the border into neighbouring Liberia and Sierra Leone, with minor outbreaks occurring in Mali, Senegal and Nigeria.

With mortality rates slightly above 70%, this Ebola outbreak claimed 11 310 lives by May 2016.

At around the same time, the Zika virus epidemic emerged in Brazil, spreading to other parts of South and North America, as well as several islands in the Pacific and South-East Asia. Zika threatened to disrupt the 2016 Rio Olympics, with the World Health Organisation declaring Zika a global public health emergency. The infection has been linked to thousands of babies being born with underdeveloped brains.

Closer to home, we are now battling against the biggest listeriosis outbreak in history. Since January last year the outbreak has seen almost 1 000 cases and 172 deaths, mostly in Gauteng, the Western Cape and KwaZulu-Natal. Listeriosis is caused by a natural bacteria found in soil, water and vegetation and can contaminate food, especially meat, dairy, seafood and fresh produce.

The National Institute for Communicable Diseases and the health minister are optimistic the source of the outbreak will be found and have urged the public not to panic. We hope this latest battle against nature will be won – and soon.