Typhoid cases have persisted in Mufulira with 30 new cases recorded yesterday morning, bringing the total number to 1,279 since the water-borne disease broke out two weeks ago. Mufulira Town Clerk Charles Mwandila who was giving an update on the epidemic said 30 typhoid cases were yesterday morning attended to at the temporary health post in Mupambe Township. Mr Mwandila said the health team believed the new cases still being recorded were the effect of the 14-day incubation period for the disease. "Out of the 30 cases recorded this morning (yesterday), three were severe and had to be referred to Ronald Ross Hospital," Mr Mwandila said. Typhoid fever is an infectious disease caused by the bacteria Salmonella Typhi. It easily spreads through contaminated food and water supplies and close contact with infected persons. The illness is characterised by high fever, sweating, gastroenteritis and diarrhoea.Mr Mwandila said the mitigation team comprising the District Health Management Team, Mufulira Municipal Council and Mulonga Water and Sewerage Company had resolved not take chances by treating every vomiting and diarrhoea case as typhoid.
He said as part of the strong mitigation measure, MWSC supplied 2,000 by 250m bottles of chlorine and lime which were being distributed to every household in Mupambe Township. This was in the wake of the deplorable sanitation in the township with a population of about 3,000 residents. "This is just localised short-term measure as MWSC is implementing the K7.6 billion long-term which involve replacing the vandalised sewer line and diverting the water pipe so that they don’t run parallel," he said. Mr Mwandila said the suspect linked to vandalism of service lines that caused contamination of drinking water was still at large but that police were pursuing the fugitive. MWSC spokesperson Patricia Luhanga, in a statement, said the contamination of water was caused by an act of vandalism after some people punctured sewer and water lines to get raw sewer to irrigate their crops.
- RSOE EDIS
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