The Eastern Cape Health Department has confirmed that cases of listeriosis were reported in the province, with one recorded death in September.
Health Department spokesperson, Sizwe Kupelo, said that the deceased patient was from the Port Elizabeth area.
He said a second case was reported in the Uitenhage area where a 69-year-old man was treated in hospital before being discharged a month later following "treatment for bacterial meningitis caused by Listeria monocytogen".
"We have confirmed cases of listeriosis that we reported in the Eastern Cape. A patient from the Port Elizabeth area died from the condition in September. We have since activated our outbreak response teams that will be responsible for raising awareness and also for ensuring that we monitor the situation," Kupelo said.
He also said that the public should not panic as listeriosis is not contagious, but he said people should employ safe hygiene practices.
On Tuesday‚ the Department of Health announced that South Africa had an outbreak of the food-borne disease listeriosis.
A total of 557 cases were reported this year alone‚ significantly up from the average of between 60 and 80 reported in previous years.
Health Minister Aaron Motsoaledi said the disease had resulted in 36 deaths.
According to information on the Department's website, Listeriosis is a flu-like illness with diarrhoea including fever, general body pains, vomiting and weakness.
. Infection of the bloodstream which is called septicaemia.
. Meningoencephalitis (infection of the brain).
Individuals 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.
According to the Department, the age groups that are most affected are neonates, that means the first 28 days of life (37%) and the age group between 15 to 49 years (33%).
It states that the two groups comprise 70 percent of all cases.
The Department of Health said there were four possible sources of listeriosis in general.
• directly at origin e.g. farm
• food processing plant
• retail
• food preparation at home
The Health Department said it believed that for this particular outbreak, the most likely possible source is contamination food at origin e.g. farms and agriculture as well as food processing plants.
The source of this outbreak is currently being investigated, and all the stakeholders are cooperating with the investigation led by the NICD.
Environmental Health Officers are following up diagnosed cases and are visiting their homes to sample food where available.
