First cholera death confirmed in Mpumalanga
Woman dies after showing symptoms of waterborne disease
The Mpumalanga department of health has confirmed the province's first death due to the cholera outbreak on Tuesday.
According to provincial health spokesperson Mandla Zwane, the 73-year-old woman from Phake was admitted at the Mmametlhake Hospital on May 26 after showing symptoms including diarrhea and nausea.
"She was a known patient on hypertension treatment. Cholera sample was taken and forwarded to laboratory for investigation [sic]... final result confirmed that the patient is indeed cholera positive," said Zwane.
The announcement comes after health minister Dr Joe Phaahla on Wednesday gave an update on the current cholera outbreak.
According to Phaahla, recent cholera incidents could be traced from the cases of two sisters from Diepsloot, Johannesburg, who had travelled together by bus to Malawi in January and returned on January 30. The cases were reported by provincial authorities on February 5.
Looking at Gauteng and Tshwane in particular, Phaahla said the first reported case was a 56-year-old male originally from Giyani, Limpopo, who resides in Musina.
On Tuesday, the national department of health clarified that two cases of cholera which were reportedly recorded in North West were actually from Gauteng.
This after North West health department announced that the province has registered two laboratory confirmed cases of cholera in the Bojanala district municipality.