Zambia shuts schools in capital amid typhoid outbreak, 1 student dies

Thirty schools in the Zambian capital Lusaka have been closed due to unsanitary conditions following an outbreak of typhoid in the city, the Times of Zambia reported on Thursday.

Public Relations Manager for Lusaka City Council, Mulunda Habenzu, said the schools, including both public and privately-run ones, are in Kanyama, a densely-populated shanty town, west of the city, where the water-borne disease has broken out.

So far, a 11-year-old girl in one of the schools has died of suspected typhoid while two others have been tested positive for the disease, the official said.

The health ministry claims it has scaled up measures to bar the disease from spreading to other parts of the city.

Deputy Minister of Health, Chitalu Chilufya, said 36 cases were recorded in Kanyama but noted that the situation has been brought under control.

"There has been no escalation in cases of typhoid from the initial 36 that we are talking about in the township and we will not relent in the quest to ensure that the disease is permanently wiped out," he said. Endi