LETTER: Listeriosis outbreak shows surveillance falling short
With reference to the listeriosis outbreak, two comments should greatly concern citizens who rely on the government to protect them from health threats. First is the comment by a laboratory scientist who apparently said that "a shortage of the solution used for testing for the listeriosis bacterium meant the results of the tests of the Polokwane factory were delayed by two weeks". What shortage? For two weeks? A modern surveillance system relies on a national laboratory system that must be in a perpetual state of readiness to test for and report on disease outbreaks. Shortages of necessary testing chemicals are simply intolerable. Second is the remark by Health Minister Aaron Motsoaledi that, by March 2, the "total of laboratory-confirmed cases [had] risen to 948, still counting from January 2017". A modern surveillance system would pick up unusual deaths almost immediately, enabling an immediate response. SA is among the few remaining middle-income countries lacking active surveill...
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