'Dramatic fall' in new listeria cases
Authorities say there has been a dramatic decrease in the number of new listeria cases reported in South Africa.
This comes amid increased technical support by the World Health Organisation (WHO) as the country battles to contain the outbreak.
The 7-member technical team is tasked to prevent any future outbreaks of the disease and to ensure the current outbreak is contained.
The team comprises of epidemiologists, food safety experts and risk communication specialists.
The National Institute for Communicable Diseases' (NICD) Dr. Juno Thomas says the number of new cases of listeriosis have decreased dramatically since the recall of certain foods.
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"There's only been 37 new cases reported since 4 March. We are going to continue monitoring this but we expect still to see cases for a few weeks because of the very long incubation period of listeriosis."
The WHO team is set to work with various government departments.
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"The team is going to assist the government to organise and plan a systematic inspection and sampling program for ready to eat process meats industry, and also effectively monitor the recall to ensure the outbreak is under control."
At least 180 people have died due to the disease.