Laboratory tests have confirmed 21 cases of Listeriosis in the North West. Two people have so far died in the province.
The first case was reported in the Bojanala District Municipality sometime in 2017.
Listeriosis is transmitted through contaminated food.
It has caused the death of 81 people countrywide since the beginning of 2017.
According to information released by the National Institute for Communicable Diseases( NICD), by last week they had recorded 767 laboratory-confirmed cases of Listeriosis since the beginning of January 2017.
Most cases were reported from Gauteng, followed by the Western Cape, Kwazulu Natal and the North West.
Two people have already died in the province as the Director for Communicable Diseases Control in the North West Health Department, Oleteng Mokate, says, “The total number of Listeriosis cases that we are having in the province rather is 21 cases and of these cases, eight are males and 12 are females with one case not yet been classified and unfortunately, two people have died from the disease one from the Bojanala District and one from the Dr Kenneth Kaunda District.”
Mokate says investigations were conducted where cases were reported. He says educational awareness campaigns are also being conducted in the affected communities.
The environment health practitioners go out every time when there is a case. They go to where the case is coming from. They go to the particular household (and) they look at all matters relating to hygiene.”
“They check for any food that they can sample and they also have to go to food processing plants because right now the suspicion is that the disease might be spreading via our food processing plants; they go there and they take samples.”
The World Health Organisation has outlined steps that people can take to ensure that they do not contract the disease.
Mokate explains some of the precautionary measures that people can take.
“Number one, you wash your hands every time with soap; number two, when you store food in the refrigerator do not put raw food and cooked food together in such a way that the two types of food come into contact.”
“So, another thing is that the food which is stored in the refrigerator must be stored at the right temperature and when you use water, for cooking and other things we must use safe water.”
The National Institute for Communicable Diseases has stressed that Listeriosis cannot be transmitted from person to person.
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