The South African province of Gauteng has announced 19 new cases of Cholera in Hammanskraal, including 10 deaths.
South Africa reported its first cholera death in February, after the virus arrived in the country from Malawi.
The country’s provincial health department said it was unclear how many cholera cases there was nationally as of Sunday, but the most populous province of Gauteng, where Johannesburg and Pretoria are situated, has been hardest hit.
Cholera can cause acute diarrhoea, vomiting and weakness and is mainly spread by contaminated food or water. It can kill within hours if untreated.
The last outbreak in South Africa was in 2008/2009 when about 12,000 cases were reported following an outbreak in neighboring Zimbabwe, which led to a surge of imported cases and subsequent local transmission.
The UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has called for emergency funding to broaden efforts to reach millions living across 11 eastern and southern African countries which have been hit hard by fast-spreading cholera outbreaks.
UNICEF says the cholera outbreak in eastern and southern Africa isn’t just an outbreak but an emergency for children.
The agency said the worst cholera outbreaks to hit the region in years, are now unfolding in Burundi, Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Somalia, South Sudan, United Republic of Tanzania, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.
As such, UNICEF is developing individualized cholera response plans based on the unique conditions within each affected country.
