01 May 2014

Residents of Hukuntsi and surrounding areas have been warned of malaria outbreak in their area.

Addressing members of District Multi Sectoral AIDS Committee (DMSAC) in Hukuntsi, Head of District Health Management Team (DHMT), Dr Adrian Moyo said there have been five reported cases of malaria at the Hukuntsi Primary Hospital since March.

Dr Moyo said the first malaria patient was from Lehututu while the other four were from Hukuntsi.

He however stated that no malaria-related death have been reported so far.

He attributed the disease’s outbreak to this year’s heavy rains as there was abundance of water and thick grasses, which all act as breeding places for mosquitoes.

Dr Moyo cautioned residents to always be alert of any symptoms associated with the disease, which could generally be characterised by moderate to severe shaking chills, high fever and profuse sweating as body temperature falls. Other signs and symptoms, he said, may include headache, vomiting and diarrhea.

He said malaria transmission could be reduced by preventing mosquito bites by using mosquito nets and insect repellents or mosquito-control measures such as spraying insecticides and draining standing water.

Dr Moyo further alluded that the district was among the hardest hit with Tuberculosis in the country as it registered 31 new TB cases between January and March.

The living conditions in the area, he said were among the main factors that contributed to the rapid spread of the disease.


“A lot of families in the districts live in confined spaces, hence the virus spreads easily,” he said.

He said shortage of transport made it difficult to support health facilities and address areas of poor performance such as contact screening, enrolment on CTBC and poor sputum collection at all levels of treatment.

Meanwhile, Hukuntsi AIDS coordinator, Mr Ernest Setlhako said there was a significant decline in the incidences of new registered teenage pregnancies with only 11 per cent pregnancies registered between January and March as compared to 21 per cent registered between October and December last year. He adding that there were no under 15 years pregnancy cases registered between January and March.  ENDS