Piet Retief Hospital in South Africa's eastern Mpumalanga province admitted five more cholera patients on Monday, raising the number of reported cases in the province to 65 since the start of the year, African Eye News Service said on Wednesday. Head of the provincial health department's communicable disease control unit, Dr Arie Verburgh was quoted as saying that cases had only risen in the Piet Retief and Nkomazi areas, while the rest of the province remained stable. Verburgh said awareness campaigns in the area had been stepped up and domestic bleach was also being distributed to the affected communities. Reports said the Komati River tested positive for cholera last week. The river flows from Swaziland through Nkomazi and into Mozambique.
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