Cholera outbreak in South Africa: Deaths now at 20

The cholera epidemic in South Africa is taking more and more victims, local media reports.

The total number of patients admitted to a Gauteng hospital due to a gastrointestinal infection is now 78. The number of laboratory-confirmed cholera cases remains at 29.

“Funeral after funeral”. Families in mourning amid South Africa’s cholera outbreak share their pain of losing loved ones to a preventable disease.

The cause of the outbreak is yet to be determined, but residents told TimesLIVE they believe it is linked to their long struggle with poor-quality water due to waste treatment issues. Cholera can spread through feces from infected people deposited in water resources or if food is washed down with contaminated water.

Acting Director General of Communicable Disease Control at the Department of Health, Aneliswa Tsele, recently said that the main mode of transmission of cholera in South Africa is linked to climate change. “We can’t deny that. We see what is happening in our country with the floods we are experiencing and the limited access to clean water, sanitation, and hygiene services.”

Locals directly attack politicians in the country.

“They are doing politics, they are fighting each other politically while they are sacrificing us, they are dragging each other to court while we are burying our people,” Camogelo Stock said.

The country cannot afford the continued non-functioning of municipalities and wastewater treatment facilities

Stock, 39, who lives in Kanana, lost her grandmother on Sunday, three days after suffering stomach cramps and diarrhea. Her condition rapidly worsened after the initial onset of symptoms.

“She said it felt like someone was cutting her in the gut with a knife.”

Stock said her grandmother became extremely weak and could not keep food down. The family took her to Jubilee District Hospital, where she was put on a drip, but she succumbed to the disease.

“When the results came back, they said it was cholera,” she said. Her grandmother was pronounced dead on Sunday around 4 am.

Cholera is an acute diarrheal infection characterized in its severe form by extreme watery diarrhea and potentially fatal dehydration. However, most cholera infections are asymptomatic or mild. It is caused by the ingestion of food or water contaminated with the bacterium Vibrio cholera, which can survive in fresh and salt water.

Cholera outbreak: Treat all source water as high-risk, warns FS Health Dept https://t.co/QQo7tUXWFn pic.twitter.com/ZIiWBvIiR2

— Eyewitness News (@ewnupdates) May 26, 2023

Drinking and cooking with good quality water and good hygiene practices prevent cholera.

The cause of the outbreak is not yet known, but residents believe it is linked to their long struggle with poor-quality water due to waste treatment problems. Cholera can spread through feces from infected people deposited in water resources or if food is washed down with contaminated water.

South Africa: Nurses Protest Against Staff Shortage At Hospital Treating Cholera Patients https://t.co/fzhbWrYjNZ

— Marijke van der Lee (@anamafalda1992) May 26, 2023

Acting Director General of Communicable Disease Control at the Department of Health, Aneliswa Tsele, recently said that the main mode of transmission of cholera in South Africa is linked to climate change. “We can’t deny that. We see what is happening in our country with the floods we are experiencing and the limited access to clean water, sanitation, and hygiene services.”