Mpumalanga - A total of 49 cases of cholera and 19 deaths have been confirmed in Mpumalanga.
Speaking to BuaNews on Monday, provincial Department of Health spokesperson Mpho Gabashane said 49 cases were confirmed on Monday while 142 diarrhoea cases had been reported at clinics. A total of 139 have been hospitalised.
Mr Gabashane said tests done at one of the rivers in the area showed a presence of Vibrio Cholerae, which is the bacterium which causes cholera.
Residents from affected areas, including Bushbuckridge, Dr JS Moroka, Mbombela and Thaba Choeu, have been urged to refrain from using water from nearby rivers and streams.
Mr Gabashane said: "The Department of Water Affairs will be conducting water tests in other rivers and the municipalities are supplying water tanks to the affected areas. We urged residents not to use water from the streams."
He added that measures were being taken to improve early reporting at clinics and house-to-house awareness campaigns were being conducted.
The department has mobilised five doctors to join the team at Matikwane Hospital to support case management. The previously unused 40-bed ward at Themba Hospital has been opened and prepared to receive cholera patients.
Mpumalanga Health MEC Fish Mahlalela and the Mayor of Bushbuckridge Milton Morema on Monday visited the affected areas to assess the situation.
Meanwhile, 91 new cases of cholera have been recorded in Limpopo, bringing the total number of people infected with the bacteria to 2439. Nine people have died in the province.
According to the Limpopo Department of Health spokesperson Phuthi Seloba, 22 cases were recorded in the Vhembe district, 20 in Capricorn, nine in Mopani, two in Waterberg and 38 in Sekhukhune.
"We've deployed a contingent team to the Sekhukhune district to intensify our campaign and to share as much information as they can with residents," he said.
In Gauteng, Johannesburg has been the hardest hit by the cholera crisis in the province, followed by Pretoria and Ekurhuleni. Provincial Health Department spokesperson Phumelele Kaunda told BuaNews that the province has recorded 185 suspected cases, but with only 33 confirmed cholera cases.
Only a few cases have been reported in the other provinces around the country.
The National Outbreak Committee Situational Report, which was released on Monday, stated that there have been 2 515 cases of cholera reported in the country with 32 deaths and 288 patients admitted to the country's hospitals.
