The Zambian government says 17 cases have been confirmed following the recent outbreak of dysentery at a girls-only technical school in the Lusaka Metropolitan Province.
Although 84 suspected cases are still under management, the government says the dysentery outbreak at Rufunsa Girls Technical School has largely been contained. Rufunsa District Medical Officer Dr. Chola Chongo said several recommendations on how to maintain hygiene have been made to the school to avoid recurrences.
Dr Chongo said preliminary investigations indicate that the disease could have been due to erratic water supplies, which were in turn blamed on power blackouts which affected the water pumping and reticulation systems at the institution.
Meanwhile, Dr Chongo said the local disease surveillance unit is investigating a possible bilharzia outbreak in the Lukwipa area of the Rufunsa district. The investigations have just started and preliminary results are expected in the next few days.
Dr Chongo attributed the localised bilharzia outbreak to the widespread practice of drinking raw water sourced from open sources by the local communities.
- Rift Valley fever: Human cases in South Africa
- Venezuela: Bolivar hospital records 19 diphtheria deaths
- Belmont Park update: CDC rules out hantavirus, worker likely died of sepsis
- Philippines: Pangasinan reports big increase in dengue
- Hong Kong reports sporadic Streptococcus suis infection
- New Jersey officials warn of possible measles exposure
- Japan measles outbreak: 161 cases reported in first five months
- Serbia measles update: 33 percent of patients hospitalized
