DURBAN - ETHEKWINI Municipality has urged the public not to panic as no outbreak of typhoid fever, which is also known as enteric fever, has been reported in the city.
This comes after localised typhoid fever outbreaks were reported in the Western Cape and North West by the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD).
Cases have also been reported in Tshwane.
The NICD said this week that there was 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.
In a Twitter thread the city explained the symptoms of the typhoid fever and said they are non-specific and can resemble many other infections. Symptoms include high fever, fatigue, headache and constipation or diarrhoea.
The public is urged not to panic as there's no outbreak of enteric fever reported in the eThekwini district.
— eThekwini Municipality (@eThekwiniM) February 23, 2022
Enteric fever is a potentially life-threatening infection. It includes typhoid fever caused by various bacterium. pic.twitter.com/xa0XQ78XzF
“The bacteria only infect humans and therefore humans are the only reservoirs. The city would also like to confirm that its potable water is not contaminated and is safe to drink,” the municipality said.
According to the NICD, enteric fever is a potentially life threatening infection which includes typhoid fever caused by the bacterium Salmonella Typhi and paratyphoid fever caused by the bacterium salmonella paratyphi A, B and C.
The NICD said the transmission of the infection is through ingesting food or water that has been contaminated with faeces of an infected person.
It said to prevent infection, hand hygiene is important.
THE MERCURY