The Independent Uganda: You get the Truth we Pay the Price
By Flavia Nassaka
The ministry of health has today, Feb.19 announced the outbreak of typhoid in areas around Nakasero market and Kikuubo in down town Kampala with two people being confirmed to have succumbed to it yet other eleven deaths are still being investigated for the same. 142 individuals have also been identified with signs and symptoms of the disease.
While speaking to journalists at Media Center in Kampala, Jane Ruth Aceng, the Ministry’s Director General said the disease has been mainly diagnosed in men between the age of 20 and 29 residing in areas of Kibuli, Namungoona, Lugoba, Kanyogoga, Bulenga and Nateete, all Kampala suburbs and some few from Wakiso especially areas neighbouring Rubaga Division in Kampala.
Mainly transmitted through eating and drinking foods contaminated with faeces, typhoid fever is an acute illness associated with fever caused by bacteria from a group called Salmonella.
Doctors say the main type that causes human disease is called Salmonella typhi, although some few cases are caused by Salmonella paratyphi, a related bacterium that usually causes a less severe illness. The disease is spread when bacteria is deposited in the water or food by a human carrier who in turn spreads it another person he/she is in contact with.
Warning people to be keen on what they eat especially something they’ve not prepared on their own, Aceng said their investigations show the affected to have got it from what they eat or drink while at work.
Following the outbreak, Kampala City Council Authority (KCCA) has since designated a treatment center at Kisenyi Health Center IV in Rubaga division to handle any confirmed or suspected case although admission at this center is not catered for.
