Four people, among them a pregnant woman from Gwanda, died of cholera early this month at a religious shrine in Beitbridge.
The pregnant woman, who had contracted the disease, went to the shrine to seek help after refusing to be assisted by health officials due to religious beliefs.
According to the Gwanda district cholera situational report released by the Ministry of Health and Child Care (MoHCC) on 13 January, the deceased, including the pregnant woman, were apostolic sect members.
The pregnant woman reportedly complained of a headache and nausea on 29 December 2023 and assumed she was having labour pains. Read the report:
She was taken to a religious shrine in the Beitbridge District in the Mazunga area for assistance in delivery.
While she was there, the birth attendant and custodian of the shrine contracted cholera along with 12 other family members and neighbours. The birth attendant and two males died.
The Beitbridge MoHCC rapid response team (RRT) attended to the outbreak on January 1 and carried out contact tracing and treatment of symptomatic contacts found.
The deceased was initially hidden from the RRT by family members and later identified by other community members. The deceased refused medical attention from the RRT members.
The family then tried to shift her to another religious shrine in the Mberengwa Masase area, however, she died along the way on January 2.
Her death was reported to the police and was placed at the Gwanda Provincial Hospital mortuary pending a post-mortem.
The family, however, did not disclose that the deceased was a contact of a confirmed cholera death.
On 09 January, the body of the deceased was taken to United Bulawayo Hospitals for a post-mortem and buried on the same day at Jonclyn Resettlement.
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