As opposed to posts floating around across social media, recent cases of enteric fever (typhoid) have absolutely nothing to do with contaminated drinking water.
In order to put the rumors and misinformation to bed, the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) on Monday, February 22nd, came out with an official statement. It reads thus;
“There is no evidence that recent cases of enteric fever are linked to contaminated municipal water in any part of the country, and there is no evidence that the bacteria causing enteric fever have recently been identified in municipal water sources anywhere in the country. This includes those districts in Western Cape and North West provinces in which the clusters (small localised outbreaks) have been identified.”
However, five cases of typhoid were reported in Tshwane in January, and two back in December, and this is according to Tshwane Health MMC, Rina Marx. Even last week, the NICD had confirmed some cases of typhoid fever in the City of Cape Town, the Cape winelands, the Garden Route, and also in North West Province.
In recent months, though, here hasn’t been any reported cases of typhoid in KZN. For those that don’t know, Enteric fever is a potentially life-threatening infection. This menace of a bacteria can only infect humans.
