HARARE – A cholera outbreak in Chiredzi has been traced to contaminated water in canals carrying irrigation water, the presidency said on Monday as the health ministry reported that 18,100 people had now been treated for the disease with 323 deaths.
On January 14, 45 new infections were reported in Chiredzi alone, while 83 other people are in hospital in the district getting treatment. Five new deaths were reported, four of them in Masvingo.
The government now says the Chiredzi outbreak is being fuelled by locals consuming untreated water from canals that supply irrigation water to the plantations dotted around the district.
George Charamba, the spokesman in the presidency, said: “Investigations by our health officials have revealed that most victims of the current wave of cholera in the Chiredzi irrigation zones helped themselves to untreated water in canals meant for irrigation. People should avoid taking such raw water; it is contaminated and thus deadly.”
The health ministry has been battling the current cholera outbreak since February last year.
Manicaland has the most deaths – 106 – while Harare leads the infections table with 6,630 reported cases from which 55 people have died. Matabeleland North – eight – has the lowest infections and no reported deaths, followed by Bulawayo with 14 reported cases and one death.
The health ministry says cholera has spread to 60 of Zimbabwe’s 64 districts, with a spike in late December and early January blamed on the movement of people during the holidays.
Cholera is spread by ingesting contaminated food or water, and while it often causes mild symptoms or none at all, serious cases cause acute diarrhoea and kill within hours if untreated. Access to safe water and sanitation are important to stop the disease, as well as vaccination and speedy treatment.
