Windhoek: Health officials in the Kunene Region are actively engaged in providing health education campaigns while equally conducting assessments and raising awareness in the region amidst the cholera outbreak.

According to Namibia Press Agency, the Kunene health directorate has reported eight suspected cases, with six testing positive, all from Alpha village. Two cases from Omuzenga village and Orutjandja location in Opuwo tested negative. One of the affected patients, a one-year-old child, is said to have died from severe dehydration.

In an interview with Nampa on Friday, Barbara Kahiha, the Chief Environmental Health Officer for Kunene, stated that the investigation into the origin of the infection is still ongoing. Health officials believe the infection may have originated from Angola. 'We have reason to believe that the initial outbreak or the first infected individual may have originated from outside Opuwo. While we cannot confirm this with certainty, we suspect it might have come from Angola, considering the rapid spread of infections in that country and the frequent travel of our people between the two countries,' she stated.

Neighbouring Angola has been fighting a cholera outbreak since January this year. In just two months' time, Angolan health officials reported over 8,500 cases, including 329 deaths. More than 15 provinces in Angola have been affected, prompting a swift response from Kunene health officials, which includes pinpointing possible factors and assessing preparedness for cholera prevention and control mitigations.

'We are currently undertaking educational awareness campaigns throughout the region, going house-to-house to provide the community with safe hygiene practices, proper sanitation, water purification tablets, testing of water while also urging those with early symptoms to go for testing,' noted Kahiha. The awareness campaign has been extended to other parts of the region with villages such as Okangwati, Epupa, Otjimuhaka, and others all under close monitoring.

Minister of Health and Social Services, Dr Esperance Luvindao, during a media briefing in Windhoek on Thursday, announced that confirmatory testing, conducted with support from the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) in South Africa, identified the presence of Vibrio cholerae 01, a strain known to cause large-scale outbreaks. 'This confirmation underscores the urgent need for swift and coordinated action to contain the spread of the disease,' said Luvindao. The minister further called for concerted efforts to support the ministry's efforts by helping to ensure access to safe drinking water and adequate sanitation in the affected areas.

Cholera, spread by contaminated water or food due to poor sanitation, causes severe diarrhoea and dehydration.