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Fungai Lupande andFortunate Gora
Authorities in Mashonaland Central and Mashonaland West provinces have activated emergency response teams as the cholera outbreak in Harare continues to spread to different parts of the country.

Mashonaland Central has recorded two cases, whose source has been traced to Harare, while Chinhoyi has not yet recorded any case.

Mashonaland Central provincial epidemiology and disease control officer Dr Tsitsi Siwela on Wednesday allayed fears of a cholera outbreak in Mashonaland Central despite the two cases recorded so far.

In an interview, Dr Siwela said the two affected people from Budiriro, Harare, had travelled to Shamva when they fell sick and they immediately received treatment while the area where they were was disinfected.

“They did not ignite an outbreak here and for now we are ok,” he said.

“We managed the situation and contained the spread of the disease.

“We encourage people to practise good hygiene. They should avoid using the bush to relieve themselves. They should always wash their hands after using the toilet and before meals. They should also wash their vegetables thoroughly and eat well prepared food.

“People should always drink safe water and if they cannot afford bottled water they should boil their water first before drinking it.”

In Chinhoyi, Mashonaland West, a taskforce comprising the Makonde district nursing and environmental officers and officials from the municipality has been set up. It has already started conducting community awareness campaigns emphasising on hygiene to prevent occurrence of the disease in the town.

In a statement issued on Tuesday, Chinhoyi Municipality spokesperson Mr Tichaona Mlauzi said although they have been no cholera cases reported in the town, pre-emptive measures were being put in place.

“Campaigns are being carried out in all the wards and we are also moving with a hailer in the community to raise awareness on the need for hygiene,’’ he said.

The awareness programme also involves distributing materials, including flyers, with information on cholera prevention and the symptoms to look out for.

“We have not had any cases so far, but we are monitoring the situation so that the town maintains its health status,” he said.

“At our clinics we are monitoring diarrhoeal patients and for every five patients, we take a sample for testing.

“We have not yet recorded any case and we will continue to monitor the situation.”

Mr Mlauzi said the health scare came at a time when the town significantly improved access to clean drinking water for about 70 percent of its population.

The town is now pumping about 20 mega litres from around 16 mega litres early this year.

Mr Mlauzi said vendors and those who prepare food at undesignated places were being monitored while they are also discouraging residents from having their food at unsafe places.

“We are making sure our town is clean,” he said.

“We are supplying water to risk areas where there is no constant water supply.

“We are making sure all our water carriers are sanitised and water tanks stationed in the wards are disinfected.

“We are also carrying out water quality monitoring where we monitor and assess quality of water in the town from sources that has municipal taps, borehole and tanks. We are also discouraging open cooking and unregistered food vending outlets.”

The local authority is also carrying out sanitation and infection controls by ensuring that communal and public toilets are constantly cleaned with recommended disinfectants.

At least 21 people have so far died of cholera, with more than 2 000 suspected cases having been recorded since Monday last week.