The limited number of reported typhoid cases in Cape Town is isolated and not linked to a common food and water source.
This according to the City of Cape Town, which stressed that there is no truth in social media messages around the presence of typhoid in municipal drinking water. It added that the reported cases in Cape Town are isolated.
“All drinking water samples taken from the municipal supply tested at the City’s Scientific Services Laboratory in Athlone [Cape Town] complied with the South African National Drinking Water Standard on acute health determinants and pose no health risk to the public,” explained Patricia van der Ross, the Mayoral Committee member for Community Services and Health.
Drinking water quality across the City is regularly monitored according to the strict South African National Standard for Drinking Water (SANS:241), and no cases of typhoid fever have been linked to the municipal water supply.
Typhoid is spread through the faeces of an infected person, and person-to-person transmission occurs when another person consumes food or water that has been contaminated by the faeces of an infected person, usually through unwashed hands.
Symptoms of the disease are high fever, tiredness, headaches, vomiting, stomach pains and diarrhoea, and it may take between five and 21 days for symptoms to become evident after exposure.
In terms of SA health legislation, the municipality must be notified when a case of typhoid fever is confirmed, so it can be investigated to prevent further spread. “With each case a detailed investigation is carried out to establish where the infected person could have been exposed to the bacteria,” added Van der Ross. “This includes travel history, exposure to visitors from outside the city, source and storage of drinking water and food, contact with other persons who may have displayed similar symptoms, hand washing practices and source of water used for any home grown vegetables.”
Typhoid-fever incidents have declined in the City over the last two financial years, with 25 cases in 2019-’20 and 18 in 2020-’21. In the current financial year, 15 cases have been reported with four diagnosed this month. These cases are geographically spread across the City and do not appear to be linked to a common food or water source, the City said in a statement.
The washing of hands is vitally important before any food preparation and after toilet use or contact with faeces or vomit to prevent multiple gastrointestinal infections.
City Health inspects food premises regularly and takes samples to ensure hygiene practices are maintained at premises that sell food to the public.
Regulations covering food premises also require that all staff are trained in safe food practises, offered free of charge to the informal sector by the City.
