The Ministry of Health and Social Services has officially declared a cholera outbreak in the Opuwo district.
This comes after confirmation of two cases of Vibrio cholerae 01, which is a strain known for causing outbreaks.
Health minister Esperance Luvindao announced this during a press briefing on Thursday morning.
“The preliminary tests have been made on the reported eight suspected cases, as well as the confirmatory tests for the six cases. We have now received the confirmatory test results for the first two cases,” she said.
The announcement comes after the ministry last Friday reported a suspected outbreak to the World Health Organisation (WHO).
Luvindao said the first four suspected cases, in three children and one adult, were all from the same household at Opuwo.
One of the individuals tragically died due to severe dehydration.
As of 18 June, the ministry has recorded eight suspected cholera cases. Six of these, including the death, originated from a single household at Opuwo, while the other two are from Opuwo and Otjimuhaka village.
According to the WHO, one locally transmitted confirmed case qualifies as an outbreak.
“Obtaining from these confirmed findings, I thus today officially declare a cholera outbreak in the Opuwo district of the Kunene region,” Luvindao announced.
She said the five remaining patients from the affected household are currently in isolation and reportedly in a stable condition at Opuwo District Hospital.
Luvindao said while the situation does not warrant panic, it calls for a “whole-of-government and whole-of-society approach” to prevent further spread.
She said cholera is not only a public health concern, but “an indicator of inequity and a reflection of underlying social development challenges”, including poor access to safe water, sanitation, and healthcare services.
