By CHARITY MOONGA  –

LUSAKA Province has been placed on high typhoid alert following the presence of the disease in Kanyama Township in Lusaka.
More than 30 schools have been closed following the reported cases of typhoid, which also claimed one life.
Lusaka provincial medical officer Kennedy Malama said medical practitioners had been tasked to screen every patient for the disease.
“All districts in Lusaka are on high alert and where our doctors suspect a patient could have typhoid, we have told them to screen them and send samples to the UTH laboratory,” Dr Malama said.
The Ministry of Health is currently carrying out sensitisation programmes in the area on the need to maintain high levels of cleanliness in order to prevent the spread of the disease.
Health Minister Joseph Kasonde told a press briefing last week that 274 cases were still being screened while four had been confirmed.
Dr Kasonde said four people tested positive for Salmonella, the causative agent for typhoid.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) has since pledged US$20, 000 and two vehicles to support the anti-typhoid programme in Kanyama.
WHO country representative Jacob Mufunda said steps taken to contain the disease were positive.
Typhoid is an acute illness associated with fever caused by the Salmonella typhi bacteria. The bacteria are deposited in water or food by a human carrier and are then spread to other people in the area.
Typhoid fever is contracted by drinking or eating the bacteria in contaminated food or water. People with acute illness can contaminate the surrounding water supply through stool, which contains a high concentration of the bacteria.