A fresh cholera outbreak has hit Beit Bridge, with five suspected cases having been detected in the district so far, amid reports that seven people have died of the disease in neighbouring Mwenezi district.

The provincial medical director for Matabeleland South, Dr Gordon Bango, has confirmed the outbreak, saying they were now on high alert. He said, however, that no deaths had been recorded in the Beit Bridge district.

Bango said they were jointly working with other stakeholders to fight the disease. The Ministry of Health and Child Welfare is using the offices of the International Organization for Migration (IOM) as an isolation centre. According to local health officials, it is suspected that the outbreak emanated from the Flora resettlement area in the neighbouring Mwenezi district in Masvingo, following the admission of a patient at Beit Bridge District Hospital on 3 February.

The sample tests taken confirmed that the patient was positive. The patient was reportedly in transit to South Africa after having attended a funeral wake in Flora resettlement area from where it is suspected she contracted the disease.

Bango said they were now in the process of investigating three more cases. “We have since deployed our health promotion teams to hot spots in the district where they are conducting anti-cholera awareness campaigns and we are also working on mobilizing enough resources for the programme,” he said. The areas include Dulibadzimu bus terminus, border posts where toilets are not working and Hlalani Kuhle suburb. The residential area has no sanitation facilities and there are four boreholes at the suburb, which are not reticulated, coupled with an incomplete sewer system.

Beit Bridge District Hospital currently has medication to deal with at least 1000 cases of cholera.

Bango said they had since notified the local national cholera command centre in Harare. “This time we are on high alert because we certainly would not want a repeat of the previous scenario in which a number of lives were lost across the district as a result of the cholera outbreak. We are, however, working closely with our national cholera command centre to monitor the situation,” he added.

Authorities have attributed the outbreak to fruits and food stuffs illegally sold on the streets. Dr Bango said they had since roped in the local police to help contain the situation by launching a blitz on illegal vendors operating in undesignated areas in the border town.

The previous cholera outbreak, which occurred in November 2008, left 54 people dead, with about 450 cases having been recorded in the district. The epidemic spilled over into neighbouring Musina and the town subsequently became the worst-hit area in Limpopo, following a huge influx of Zimbabweans who contracted the disease flocking into the border town in search of better treatment in South Africa, resulting in the cholera spreading.