WEEKLY BULLETIN ON OUTBREAKS
AND OTHER EMERGENCIES
Week 3: 9 to 15 January 2023
Data as reported by: 17:00; 15 January 2023
...
Cholera Kenya
3 970 cases
70 Deaths
1.8% CFR
EVENT DESCRIPTION
On 19 October 2022, the Ministry of Health (MoH) of Kenya
issued a cholera alert following confirmation of 61 Vibrio cholerae
O1 serotype Ogawa cholera cases across six counties: Kiambu,
Nairobi, Uasin Gishu, Nakuru, Kajiado, and Murang’a. This alert
was issued a month after an earlier cholera outbreak was declared
over in the Country. The origin of the current outbreak was traced
to a wedding party that was held in Limuru sub-county in Kiambu
County on 8 October 2022.
Since the confirmation of the first case on 8 October 2022, the
cumulative number of suspected cases as of 14 January 2023,
was 3 970 cases including 70 deaths (CFR 1.8%). Among the
total reported cases, males represent 51% and females 49%.
The 14 counties have cumulatively reported cases as follows:
Garissa (1 754), Nairobi (563), Tana River (529), Kiambu (343),
Machakos (266), Wajir (190), Meru (77), Nyeri (55), Murang’a
(37), Kajiado (19), Homa Bay (17), Kitui (12), Uasin Gishu
(8), and Nakuru (5). Garissa, Nairobi, Tana River, and Kiambu
Counties are currently the most affected, accounting for 80% of
all cases.
Most of the cases in Garissa County were reported from the three
large refugee camps in Dadaab sub-county ((Dagahaley, Ifo and
Hagadera) and host communities.
According to UNHCR, since June 2021, there have been 53
485 new arrivals of Somalia refugees in Dadaab camps. The
displacement is due to the drought as well as insecurity in
Somalia. The ongoing influx of refugess has contributed to
congestion and overcrowding, thus increasing the pressure on
available resources such as sanitation facilities and household
level access to safe water.
PUBLIC HEALTH ACTIONS
The Ministry of Health issued a cholera alert to all County
Directors of Health highlighting the importance of early
detection, confirmation, and management of suspected
cases.
Counties’ Departments of Health have started responding to
the outbreak by identifying gaps, triggering multi-sectoral
coordination mechanisms, and reviewing the response
interventions.
An outbreak investigation team, under the coordination of
the National Public Health Emergency Operations Centre, has
been deployed to implement response activities, including
field investigations, enhanced surveillance, laboratory
testing, case management, risk communication, community
engagement and environmental sanitation to prevent further
spread of the disease.
The affected county governments and partners continue to
respond to the outbreak with limited resources. A rapid risk
assessment has been completed and isolation centers have
been set up at various health facilities.
Cholera treatment centers and clinics have been set up in all
the affected Counties; especially in all refugee camps and the
host communities in Garissa.
Oral cholera vaccination (OCV) request for 1.7 million doses
was submitted to the International Coordinating Group (ICG)
and already approved.
SITUATION INTERPRETATION
Kenya has been experiencing an upsurge in cholera cases since
it was first reported in 1971 in Turkana district. Access to clean
water and sanitation is a significant challenge in many parts of the
country. The surging population in the refugee’s camps worsened
by the registered influx of refugees and the deplorable conditions
of camps with regards to water and sanitation infrastructure
systems increase the risk of further contaminations. There is a
need for additional resources to strengthen the response to reduce
cholera spread and mortality to less than 1% through effective
and enhanced coordination, rapid detection and response to
the outbreak, and implementation of multi-sectoral preventive
interventions in the hotspots to address identified gaps.
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https://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream...EW03-915012023-eng.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y
