Contaminated water triggers diarrhoea outbreak in Bulawayo

Munashe Mukahlera

Zimbabwe’s second largest city, Bulawayo, has been hit by yet another outbreak of water borne diseases.

As at Sunday, 40 cases of diarrhoea had been recorded in Mganwini, a high density suburb in the city. Bulawayo’s director of health services, Dr Edwin Sibanda, attributed the outbreak to contaminated tap water which the affected residents consumed.

“People may then be prone to diseases that tend to be easily transmitted when water supply is low. We admit that some samples show that our water quality was not up to standard in some of the houses and the engineers are working on that part because the water did have an odour as well as a colour,” he said.

The city has, in recent months, battled recurring diarrhoea outbreaks, with over 1 500 cases recorded towards the end of last year.