Johannesburg (dpa) - South African authorities reported new
cholera deaths in the province surrounding Johannesburg, indicating
that the spread of the disease from Zimbabwe is becoming more
pronounced.
One person had died of cholera over the weekend, bringing the
province's death count to three, Chika Asomugha, spokesman for the
health department of Gauteng Province, told the South African Press
Association (SAPA) on Monday.
Gauteng, home to both the city's economic centre of Johannesburg
and the national capital of Pretoria, now has 21 positively
identified cases of cholera, with the heaviest concentration in the
Johannesburg district.
The disease is also making gains in the Limpopo Province, which
borders Zimbabwe. Cholera has reached epidemic levels in Zimbabwe,
where an ongoing financial and political crisis has left authorities
unable to combat the disease or even implement basic hygienic
standards which could normally curb the disease's spread.
According to Limpopo Province spokesman Phuthi Seloba, as quoted
by SAPA, the disease has now spread to the province's most vulnerable
areas, with new cases reported almost every day.
The province's death toll has held steady at eight. But the border
town of Musina has recorded 15 new cases since Sunday, bringing the
total number there to 909, including five people who remain
hospitalized.
Other parts of the province, including Botlokwa, Madimbo, Dilokong
and Knobel have also recorded new cases.
Seloba said health officials were finding it hard to spread
awareness about the disease.
"We also still have some people who insist that they are ill
because they ate meat from a sick cow when told they have cholera,"
he said. "This is the kind of thinking that we are working against."
The United Nations has reported more than 1,100 deaths and 24,000
infected from cholera in Zimbabwe.
Health officials are worried that there could be further outbreaks
of the disease in both Zimbabwe and South Africa over the Christmas
holidays, when Zimbabweans who live in South Africa return home to
visit relatives, perhaps risking infection and the further spread of
the disease.
Copyright 2008 dpa Deutsche Presse-Agentur GmbH