Authorities in Zimbabwe have banned food vendors in the country’s capital following an outbreak of typhoid fever.
According to the health minister David Parirenyatwa two people including a 13-year-old girl died from the disease over the last month. Hundreds more have been infected.
Harare authorities have set up a treatment camp to deal with the rising cases of the highly contagious typhoid fever in the capital with the Health minister outlining that the city accounts for three quarters of cases in the country.
A joint ministerial taskforce set up to prevent the spread of the disease has announced a prohibition on cooked and dry food vending.
The ban is bound to affect hundreds of vendors who earn their living from selling fruits and vegetables on streets.
The city is also mounting a campaign to get clear rubbish because typhoid is also caused by poor sanitation.
Harare is facing a shortage of piped water, which is forcing some residents to draw water from unsafe sources.
The onset of the rainy season has only worsened the outbreak with the health minister expressing fearing that there may be an outbreak of cholera if measures are not taken to stem the outbreak of diarrheal diseases.
Typhoid bacteria is spread when food or water containing contaminated fecal matter is consumed.
In 2009 more than 4,000 people died and 100,000 were infected by a cholera outbreak in the country.
