BULAWAYO City Council (BCC) says it has effectively contained the cholera outbreak in the city.
This was revealed by environmental health officer Nhlonipho Sithole-Sibanda during an update on adverse disease conditions, who said the local authority managed to contain the disease through intensified emergency response mechanisms.
“As a province, we had confirmed cases. Our first case was a 44-year-old female. So far, we have had 13 confirmed cases out of a total of 45 suspected cases that we have been following up. We conducted rapid tests and some would come out positive, but we would confirm the positivity through a laboratory test,” Sithole-Sibanda said.
She said out of all the cases, one person succumbed to the disease since its outbreak in February last year.
“In 2024, out of 37 suspected cases, only 10 were confirmed positive. This meant that out of a total 49 suspected cases, only 13 were confirmed positive,” Sithole-Sibanda said.
“More males were being affected by cholera than women, with females standing at 42% and men at 58%. We would like to conduct a study that will establish, if possible, the reasons as to why we have more males being detected as compared to females.
“It’s usually the other way round. The most affected age group was the 35 to 44-year-olds. These are (usually) working class people, so they are more exposed.”
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