Malaria cases continue to rise in Oshikoto

Malaria cases in the Oshikoto region continue to rise with 33 new infections recorded between 31 January and 3 February.

According to the head of the Oshikoto health directorate, Joshua Nghipangelwa on Thursday, the region has thus far recorded 520 malaria cases, with six deaths since its outbreak in November 2024.

Nghipangelwa said 79 cases were recorded between 1 to 27 January and 94 during the festive season, noting that some communities refuse measures and lock their structures during the spray campaigns.

“Some community members are not adhering to the measures while others ignore them,” he said, adding that some only seek medical attention once they have already been infected.

All age groups and genders are equally affected in all the districts of the region with Omuthiya standing at 219 cases, whilst Onandjokwe has 172, and Tsumeb with 129 cases.

“A total of 437 cases were locally transmitted while 83 cases have been imported from Angola,” he said.

Nghipangelwa encouraged the public to seek medical attention at any nearest health facility when experiencing malaria symptoms such as fever, headaches, chills, vomiting and body pains.

“The ministry would like to encourage the public to actively participate in malaria prevention by taking precautions, which include sleeping under mosquito nets, using traditional herbs, wearing long sleeves clothes at night, using mosquito repellents and coils and accepting spraying personnel into their homes,” Nghipangelwa said.