Cholera alert declared as Jubilee sets up special ward

GALE NGAKANE and PATRICIA MAGANU | Friday December 12, 2008 00:00

Nyangabgwe Referral Hospital's (NRH) authorities and the Francistown City Council (FCC) pull out all stops and putting everyone on high alert for the disease that is spreading to South Africa, Zambia, the DRC and Botswana from its 'provenance' in Zimbabwe.

Two patients have already been diagnosed for cholera and admitted to Jubilee Clinic where the TB Ward has been converted into a Cholera Ward, giving the lie to the appearance of normality there and at the referral hospital.

A nurse at Jubilee says it is not unusual for them to convert the ward when there is an outbreak of a major threat to public health.

The Superintendent of Nyangabgwe hospital who also supervises Jubilee, Dr Japhta Masunge, says initially three people presented what doctors thought were symptoms of cholera but one was cleared and that of the two who were positively diagnosed for the disease and admitted to Jubilee Clinic, one has since been discharged.

'Our team that deals with infections has been educating our staff to be extra cautious since the outbreak (of cholera),' he says.

'Members of the public are educated about prevention at local clinics because when people feel unwell, they go to clinics from where they may be referred here if necessary.'
 Dr Masunge says they received the first case of cholera on November 24 and that the patient has since been treated and released.

'The patient was a Zimbabwean national who came to the hospital with symptoms of cholera like vomiting, excessive diarrhoea and abdominal pains,' he says. 'And when we tested the stool, we found that he did have cholera.'
The second patient came in on December 7 and results of his tests yesterday showed him to have cholera.

A website describes cholera as an acute intestinal infection caused by the bacterium vibrio cholerae that produces a toxin that causes an infected person to dehydrate through vomiting and profuse watery diarrhoea.

Two strains of cholera are now associated with infection: V. cholerae serogroup O1 and V. cholerae serogroup O139. Cholera is acquired directly through contaminated water or food or indirectly from exposure to the faeces or vomit of an infected person.

Indirect exposure, or person-to-person exposure, is unlikely when good hygiene practices like hand washing are observed. Under-cooked or raw shellfish such as crabs, shrimps, mussels and oysters, as well as unpeeled fruits and vegetables have been associated with infection.

Cholera outbreaks are usually caused by contaminated water where sewage and drinking water supplies have not been adequately treated.