Health Minister Aaron Motsoaledi on Tuesday said South Africa is dealing with an outbreak of listeriosis, a disease he described as serious but treatable and preventable.
"Listeriosis is caused by the bacterium Listeria monocytogenes. The bacteria is widely distributed in nature and can be found in soil, water and vegetation.
"Animal products and fresh produce such as fruits and vegetables can be contaminated from these sources," Motsoaledi said as he addressed a press briefing called to announce the outbreak in Pretoria.
He said infection with listeria may result in conditions including flu-like illness with diarrhoea, including fever, general body pains, vomiting and weakness, infection of the blood stream which is called septicaemia, and meningoencephalitis [infection of the brain].
"Although anyone can get listeriosis, those at high risk of developing severe disease include newborns, the elderly, pregnant women, persons with weak immunity such as HIV, diabetes, cancer, chronic liver or kidney disease [patients].
"Listeria monocytogenes is a disease that occurs every year and is seen in our hospitals, typically 60 to 80 cases are detected and treated annually," said the minister.
Health Minister Aaron Motsoaledi addresses media in Pretoria on the outbreak of food borne disease listeriosis. VIDEO: ANA
He, however, said in July, doctors from neonatal units at the Chris Hani-Baragwanath and the Steve Biko Academic Hospital alerted the National Institute for Communicable Diseases about "unusually high numbers" of babies with listeriosis. That triggered a review of all cases diagnosed in both public and private hospitals.
"As of the 29th of November 2017, tracing back from the 1st of January, a total of 557 laboratory confirmed listeriosis cases have been reported from all provinces.
"This number is extremely high. We had never reached a number of 557 before. We had never exited 100 per annum, that is why we believe we have an outbreak.
"Most cases have been reported from Gauteng province, which accounts for 62 percent of the cases, followed by the Western Cape which accounts for 13 percent," he said.
"Of the 557 laboratory confirmed cases, 34 percent were from the private health facilities, and 66 were from public health facilities.
"Given that only 17 percent of South Africans use private health facilities, this proportion of cases from the private health facilities is too high.
"We believe it indicates the source of the outbreak is likely to be a food product that is widely distributed and consumed by people across all socio-economic groups."
Out of the 557 cases, government has so far managed to trace at least 70 of the affected. Motsoaledi said of those 70 cases, 36 patients have since died.
Dr Rufaro Chatora, country representative of the World Health Organisation, said the the global body is "satisfied" that since the outbreak was detected, South Africa has been following set procedures as set in the international health regulations.
"We are satisfied that the government is now instituting investigations to understand how the outbreak is being transmitted.
"Once information becomes available, proper public health response would be mounted. In the meantime, it is important for the public to know how they can prevent the spread of this outbreak," said Chatora.
The national department of health says the main preventative measure is to always ensure that good hygiene is followed.
This includes using only pasteurised dairy products; thoroughly cooking raw foods from animal sources such as beef, poultry or pork; washing hands before preparing food, before eating and after using the toilet; and washing raw vegetables and fruits thoroughly before eating.