Mafikeng - A patient admitted at the Carletonville Hospital has been diagnosed with cholera, bringing the total number of cholera cases in the North West to five.
Provincial Department of Health spokesperson Nthabiseng Makhongoana said a 44-year-old male was admitted at the hospital on 13 January and laboratory tests revealed signs of cholera on 14 January.
"The patient is a Mozambican citizen living in South Africa and has confirmed that he visited Mozambique during the festive season. He came back on 9 January. This brings a total number of cases reported in the province to five since the outbreak was reported late last year," said Ms Makhongoana.
Ms Makgongoana highlighted that the patient was recovering well, while the other four were to be discharged soon.
One of the other earlier cases of the diseases was reported at the Job Shimankana Hospital near Rustenburg. The Zimbabwean national was reported to have contacted cholera after coming to South Africa to visit his brother in Rustenburg.
There has been no cholera related deaths in the province. "We have only being receiving reports of people who have contracted cholera and so far we did not receive the results of those who have died because of the disease," she explained.
Ms Makgongoana reiterated that members of the community must take precautionary measures to protect themselves against the disease.
"We want to emphasis that communities must take precautionary measures such as washing hands with soap and water every time they come back from the toilet, after changing babies' nappies and when preparing food."
She also urged residents to purify their water before consumption. This can be done by adding a teaspoon of household bleach to a 5 litre bottle of water or to mix one cap full of household bleach with 20-25 litres of water and let it stand for at least 2 hours before consumption.
