Kenya government issues cholera alert

The Ministry of Public Health issued an alert on Tuesday following a cholera outbreak in various parts of Kenya, which has killed 25 people, with 551 others having been treated for the disease.

Public Health director Shariff Shanaaz urged people to observe basic hygiene such as washing hands before and after eating and visiting the toilet to avoid contracting the highly contagious disease. The waterborne disease is transmitted mainly through drinking contaminated water and unsanitary conditions.

Health crisis

Following the outbreak, the World Health Organisation has ranked Kenya among countries facing an acute health crisis. The outbreak has affected eight districts in Nyanza, Rift Valley and North Eastern provinces.

In February alone, 369 cholera cases were reported, resulting in 16 deaths.

On Tuesday, Dr Shanaaz said following the outbreak, public health officials had stepped up awareness campaigns in affected areas, adding that supplies of chlorine powder and tablets to treat drinking water had been sent out.

“Due to the acute water supply being experienced in various parts of the country, sporadic cholera outbreaks are likely to occur. It is, therefore, important for people to observe basic hygiene measures to avoid contracting the killer disease,” Dr Shanaaz added.

In Nandi South District, Rift Valley province, use of contaminated water has been blamed for the outbreak, which has claimed the lives of three people.

At the same time, the seven patients who had been admitted to Nandi Hills District Hospital and Kaptumo Divisional Health Centre have been discharged after their conditions improved.

The Nandi South medical officer, Dr Aoko Anyango, said residents had been using contaminated water at Chemase market on the Nandi/Kisumu districts boundary, where the outbreak was reported.

Rift Valley provincial public health officer Isaac Ruto said many families in areas where the outbreak was reported did not have pit latrines at their homes, adding that they relieved themselves in forests.

In Nyanza, the situation is not as bad as it has been portrayed, the provincial medical officer, Dr Jackson Kioko, has said. He dismissed reports that the province was badly hit by the disease, with about 15 deaths reported in the province last month.

Conditions stable

He said the 365 cases reported for the province dated back to last year, adding that only five suspected cases of cholera had been reported in the region since the beginning of the week.

Elsewhere, Rachuonyo District Hospital medical superintendent, Dr Peter Ogola, said no one had died at the institution. He said 17 patients had been admitted and that their conditions were stable, with some having been discharged.

Kakamega Central district public health officer Fred Amudavi said a team of public health officials had been dispatched to Shikusa to disinfect the wards used by prisoners and check on the status of hygiene.

Reports by Mike Mwaniki, Tom Matoke, Cosmas Butunyi, Benson Amadala and Otieno Owida