At least seven typhoid fever cases were confirmed in the City of Tshwane between December 2021 and February 2022, the metro said on Friday.

“The laboratory confirmed reported cases in Tshwane since January 2022 are five, including the one on Thursday,” Tshwane health MMC Rina Marx said.

She said the other two cases were reported in December. Despite these cases, Marx said there was no outbreak.

“Reported cases this far are distributed, but there is currently no distinct cluster outbreak and the health department’s teams are monitoring all reported cases closely,” she said.

Typhoid fever is a bacterial disease spreading through contaminated food, water or close contact.

Vaccines were also recommended in areas where it was common.

“We can only indicate that it is typhoid fever after laboratory testing and confirmation,” Marx said.

Some of the symptoms she said people should look out for were fever that was on and off during the first weeks, lasting longer than 48 hours and a headache.

“Gastrointestinal symptoms include abdominal pain or cramps, nausea and vomiting, constipation or diarrhea,” Marx said.

She highlighted that it was a flu-like illness.

“Typhoid fever is treated with antibiotics that are available in all health settings,” she said.

Marx further said that, as a rule of thumb, they encouraged residents to practice comprehensive hand hygiene and report to their nearest clinic if they had suspicions they had contracted the disease.