Drought-hit Baragoi residents say animal carcasses pose health risk

Cattle carcases dot Bendera in Baragoi, Samburu North where residents say they now pose a health risk. Hundreds of animals have died due to the ongoing drought. PHOTO | GODFREY OUNDOH | NATION MEDIA GROUP

What you need to know:

  • Mr Lumbai said his office is working on mitigation procedures to protect residents.
  • An estimated 50,000 people are at a risk of contracting air and waterborne diseases arising from the situation.
  • Residents have been encouraged to collect and burn the dead animals or bury them in deep pits.

There is a health scare in Baragoi, Samburu County following massive deaths of starved animals due to the prolonged drought.

A public health official has termed the situation alarming and has cautioned residents against careless disposal of carcasses of their livestock.

According to Samburu North Sub-County public Health Officer Edwin Lumbai, an estimated 50,000 people are at a risk of contracting air and waterborne diseases arising from the situation.

He asked residents to stop disposing carcasses along the road.

"I have personally counted more than 43 carcasses in Bendera Village. This calls for a quick [intervention] before an outbreak happens,” he cautioned.

Mr Lumbai said his office is working on mitigation procedures to protect residents.

INCINERATION

"We are currently planning on how to collect hundreds of carcasses within Bendera, Ngila and Baragoi areas. This will need a lot of manpower and a number of trucks to ferry the carcasses to a place where we will be incinerating them,” he said.

"For this to happen we have to make some plans for the same and the only challenge at hand is the government protocol that might affect timely intervention,” he said.

The sub-county public health team is working on logistical arrangements for collection and disposal of carcasses for incineration.

But according to Mr Lumbai, the procedure might be expensive as it will involve hiring people as well getting trucks to do the job for a number of days.

Residents have been encouraged to collect and burn the dead animals or bury them in deep pits to ensure hygiene is maintained.

The county public health team is also planning an awareness campaign but according to Mr Lumbai, this will require a lot of political goodwill.

FOUL SMELL

Assistant County Commissioner Jared Owino said the town and its environs are uninhabitable due to foul smell and urgent help is needed.

Speaking to the Nation Monday, he said cases of livestock deaths have increased gone high in the recent past despite drought mitigation measures put in place by the government.

"Most villages here have lost livestock despite the national and county governments’ destocking exercise that kicked off two months ago in this area. Every household here is dependent on relief food. The national government has been distributing relief food every month, the latest being in the month of March,” he said.

Residents are now calling on both the county and national government to intervene.

"Hundreds of livestock is dying and the situation is dire,” said Mr Peter Lempei, a resident.

He said most of the residents in the sub-county prefer livestock insurance as the best strategy as compared to the off-take programme.

Samburu County Director of Veterinary Services, Dr Boreya Lekenit, said the regional government is currently supporting pastoralists with livestock vitamin supplements to salvage the animals.

"We have been [greatly] affected by drought and this has resulted in a number of challenges including reduction of vitamins in available pasture as the green matter is diminished. We are therefore reaching out to livestock keepers to help,” he said.