Pretoria grapples with cholera outbreak, 12 dead

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Agencies
22 May 13:07

Reports show that hundreds have lost their lives due to cholera in Malawi and Mozambique this year.

Health workers treat cholera patients at the Bwaila Hospital in Lilongwe central Malawi, Jan. 11, 2023 (AP)

Twelve people have died of cholera and 95 have been admitted to hospitals with symptoms that indicate they could have the illness in Tshwane, the municipality that encompasses the South African capital of Pretoria.

19 cases of cholera had been verified as of Sunday, in addition to those who had died, and 37 people had been hospitalized. The outbreak's epicenter is at Hammanskraal, north of Tshwane.

Hundreds of people have died from the illness in Malawi and Mozambique this year, and a limited number of cases had previously been documented in South Africa. Cholera is a diarrheal disease caused by a virus that spreads in unsanitary conditions.

“The City of Tshwane has issued a notice urging communities of Hammanskraal not to drink tap water and has supplied water tankers to the hospital and surrounding communities,” the Gauteng Department of Health said in a statement.

It is worth noting that the province of Gauteng involves Pretoria and Johannesburg, South Africa’s biggest city.

Six cholera cases have been verified in the Free State, a province on Gauteng's southern border, and 76 individuals have visited hospitals with diarrheal diseases, according to a statement issued by the National Department of Health on Sunday. The infections were found in Vredefort and Parys.