Eastern Cape health officials have cracked down on illegal trade in human spit in a scam to fake tuberculosis, an East London newspaper reported on Wednesday.
Provincial health spokesperson Sizwe Kupelo said the trade in spit, supposedly from those infected with tuberculosis, was rife in villages around Qumbu in the former Transkei.
It was apparently being sold to people who hoped to use the spit to fox officials into believing that they have the disease.
This would enable the buyers to qualify for state grants.
"We have been reliably told that people suffering from TB sell their specimen to those who want to trick the government into believing that they qualify for a disability grant."
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Kupelo warned about the dangers of the scam. "This amounts to fraud and is endangering the lives of many other people in these villages."
TB is spread by a highly contagious bacillus, which can be spread in the air but would be more dangerous if passed directly in saliva from an infected host to an uninfected person who wished to appear ill.
Kupelo was not sure what the asking price for a spit sample was.
Eastern Cape Health MEC Bevan Goqwana launched a programme to warn people against the practice in the Mbhashe municipality on Monday, the newspaper reported. - Sapa
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This article was originally published on page 1 of Cape Times on September 29, 2005
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