A suspected  diarrhoeal disease has broken out at Lumezi Boarding Secondary School, affecting 92 pupils. Eastern Province education officer Allan Lingambe said so far, there is no confirmed case of diarrhoea despite some pupils showing symptoms of the disease.

Dr Lingambe told journalists yesterday that non-examination classes closed on Monday to allow the Ministry of Health to further investigate the outbreak.
“We received reports of suspected diarrhoea cases after eight pupils were admitted and treated at Lumezi Mission Hospital,” he said. He said preliminary results from the Ministry of Health indicate that no diarrhoeal disease was found in the stool, water or food samples.

Dr Lingambe said as of December 5, 2018, the affected pupils were 92. The pupils show signs of diarrhoea. In a separate interview, Lundazi district medical director Davy Zulu said the suspected cases of diarrhoea were reported to the hospital on November 11, 2018. Dr Zulu said there was no typhoid, cholera or diarrhoea detected, but common stomach upset.

He said there were no signs of fever, but the hospital authorities got concerned when the number of pupils with the same problem increased. He said this prompted the medical team to collect stool, food and water samples at the school and eight teachers’ houses, picked randomly. He said preliminary results taken to Chipata Central Hospital revealed that there were no signs of diarrhoea, typhoid or cholera in the stool.

Dr Zulu is in Lusaka waiting for the results of the samples which were taken for further analysis.