Glen Norah records 9 confirmed cases of typhoid

Residents of Glen Norah at a community water source in the suburb

Zim Now Writer

As Harare’s water problems continue to manifest, the City’s Glen Norah Clinic has recorded nine confirmed cases of typhoid.

Epidemiologist and Disease Control Officer with the City of Harare Dr Michael Vere said the local authority has managed to confine the typhoid outbreak to one suburb so far.

“Yes, we have recorded cases of typhoid in Glen Norah B and Glen Norah C. So far, we have recorded nine confirmed cases out of 37 suspected cases. We started receiving cases on the 17th of October, 2022.

“The situation is under control because right now, we are getting less and less cases both suspected and confirmed cases,” he said.

Council, Vere said, had come up with control measures to control the spread of the disease.

“We have done water monitoring in the area and so far, we have closed some of the boreholes that were found contaminated with faecal matter,” Vere said.

Vere said as council, they are encouraging on-point treatment of drinking water and council had distributed aqua tabs at various clinics in those areas.

They had also distributed the water treatment tablets throughout the high density suburbs of Budiriro and Glen View.

“We are also strengthening health promotion activities in those areas so that people are aware of the methods to protect themselves from diarrhoeal diseases,” he said.

For some time now, Harare has been battling with water supply with residents resorting to fetching water from unprotected sources such as wells, risking contracting water-borne diseases.

Current power challenges in the country have seen water woes for Harare mounting as the power outages have compromised works at Morton Jaffrey Water Treatment Plant.

Residents still have memories of the 2008-2009 cholera outbreak that killed over 4 000 and infected more than 100 000 citizens countrywide with Harare emerging as the epicentre of the epidemic.