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Proper sewerage disposal systems are planned in large squatter settlements around Fiji’s capital Suva following a major outbreak of typhoid, the government has announced.
Minister for Health Dr Neil Sharma said water and sanitation priority programs will be set nationwide as part of the response to the outbreak which has affected 99 people in rural areas and in Suva’s Jittu Estate.
“The highest number of confirmed cases in the Central/Eastern Division in February was from Jittu Estate with other cases from Waisomo in Naitasiri,” Sharma said.
Sharma said initial investigations had shown that poor personal hygiene coupled with contaminated water supply and poorly maintained pit latrines could have been the ideal vehicles for the transmission.
He said proper sewerage disposal systems and waste drains will be set up in Jittu Estate and the Wailea and Vatuwaqa squatter settlements.
Public gatherings have been banned in the affected areas until the outbreak ends.
Typhoid fever is an infectious disease spread through food and water contaminated by faeces and the urine of patients and carriers.
“Important modes of transmission in some countries include shellfish taken from contaminated sewage contaminated beds (especially oysters), raw fruits, vegetables fertilised by night soil and eaten raw.”
A technical group including the World Health Organisation will be established to provide technical oversight and to monitor the effectiveness of interventions.
Funds for the response to the outbreak will be sourced from the ministry’s 2010 Budget allocation.
