Free State reports first cholera death as Gauteng toll rises to 21

Acting health minister Dr Aaron Motsoaledi and his deputy Dr Sibongiseni Dhlomo are set to return to Jubilee District Hospital in Temba on Thursday evening as the Free State reports its first cholera death and Gauteng fatalities rise to 21.

Health department spokesperson Foster Mohale said earlier on Thursday that Jubilee hospital had treated 179 patients by Wednesday afternoon, up from the 165 a day earlier.

This includes 18 patients who have been transferred to Dr George Mukhari Academic Hospital and Steve Biko Academic Hospital in Tshwane.

The total number of patients admitted due to gastrointestinal infection is 78.

The number of laboratory-confirmed cases of cholera remains 29.

The health department in a brief statement confirmed that officials from national health as well as their provincial counterparts would return to the hospital for an urgent visit.

"This as the number of laboratory-confirmed cases and morality rates increases to 21 in Gauteng and one death in the Free State," it said.

"This urgent visit will enable the political principals to monitor the effectiveness of the current government's interventions to curb the spread of cholera disease and save lives, in order to consider further interventions."

Joining the delegation are experts from the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) and World Health Organisation (WHO).

Cholera is an acute diarrhoeal infection characterised, in its severe form, by extreme watery diarrhoea and potentially fatal dehydration. Most cholera infections are, however, asymptomatic or mild.

It is caused by the ingestion of food or water contaminated with the bacterium vibrio cholerae which can survive in fresh and salt water.

Drinking and cooking with good quality water and good hygiene practices remain the best ways to prevent cholera.

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