Pretoria - The Tshwane Metro is among municipalities expected to conduct a drinking water analysis on the status of water quality following cases of typhoid, or enteric fever reported recently.
The exercise would be in line with advice from the Department of Water and Sanitation, after it was flooded with enquiries from people living in affected municipalities.
Municipalities with typhoid incidents are in Gauteng, the North West and the Western Cape, according to the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD).
Department spokesperson Sputnik Ratau said: “The department has since advised various municipalities in the affected areas to conduct the necessary drinking water analysis on the status of drinking water quality in their respective areas, particularly related to potential enteric (typhoid) infections.”
He urged municipalities to communicate regularly with communities that they served to prevent misinformation being peddled on social media.
City Health MMC Rina Marx said this week that there was no “outbreak” of the disease in the municipality, but confirmed that typhoid cases had risen from seven to nine.
“There is no typhoid outbreak in the city presently. To call it an outbreak, a group of people in a specific area should be confirmed with the infection. Cases are scattered all over the city. There are currently nine cases registered, of which two were reported in December and second cases from January to date,” Marx said.
She said enteric fever, also known as typhoid fever, was a systemic illness caused by bacterial infection with salmonella typhi spreading by ingesting contaminated food or water and direct contact from person to person.
Residents who suspect their water is contaminated are advised to boil it before consumption.
“Additionally, we urge residents to practise comprehensive hand hygiene. Those with symptoms are advised to present to their nearest health facility for investigation, diagnosis and treatment.
“Typhoid fever is treated with antibiotics that should be available in all health facilities. The City is working with all its relevant stakeholders to monitor the situation and calls for calm as there is no need to panic,” Marx said.
Rand Water spokesperson Justice Mohale said the recent typhoid cases have not been linked to tap water, adding that the water utility’s water treatment processes “are effective in inactivating harmful bacteria”.
He said Rand Water maintained intensive water-quality monitoring programmes.
“Escherichia coli, a bacteria that is used as an indicator for the presence of faecal pollution and disease causing organisms such as salmonella typhi, has not been detected in the drinking water supplied by Rand Water. Drinking water supplied by Rand Water complies with drinking water standards and is safe for human consumption,” Mohale said.
The NICD shared the statement that there was no evidence that recent cases of typhoid fever were linked to contaminated municipal water in any parts of the country.
“There is no evidence that the bacteria causing typhoid fever have recently been identified in municipal water sources anywhere in the country,” it added.
Pretoria News