Kenya: Cholera

[Sally Furniss]

Kenya issues alert after cholera kills 25 lives

www.chinaview.cn 2009-03-18 14:37:54

NAIROBI, March 18 (Xinhua) -- The Kenyan government has issued an alert following a cholera outbreak in various parts of the country, which has claimed 25 lives, with 551 others having been treated for the disease.

Public Health ministry director Shariff Shanaaz has called on people to observe basic hygiene such as washing hands before and after eating and visiting the toilet to avoid contracting the highly contagious disease.

"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 said.

According to the Daily Nation newspaper, the World Health Organization has ranked Kenya among countries facing an acute health crisis following the outbreak.

The outbreak has affected eight districts in Nyanza, Rift Valley and North Eastern provinces. The waterborne disease is transmitted mainly through drinking contaminated water and unsanitary conditions.

The country's top physician cited poor personal hygiene and drinking of contaminated water as the main causes of the disease and appealed to the public to observe proper hygiene and seek medical care immediately they develop the symptoms.

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

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.

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.

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.

Cholera is a waterborne disease and causes serious diarrhea and vomiting. The disease can be fatal if it is not treated within 24 hours.

Spread of the disease can be prevented by avoiding contaminated drinking water, and practicing proper hand washing before touching food. Southern Sudan also reported an increase in cholera cases recently.

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2009-03/18/content_11031411.htm

 

[Shiloh]

Re: Kenya: Cholera

Source: http://www.capitalfm.co.ke/news/Local/Kenya-cholera-outbreak-affects-14-districts-3886.html

Kenya cholera outbreak affects 14 districts
BY CATHERINE KARONG'O
Update 42 minutes ago

NAIROBI, Kenya, March 31 - At least 14 districts have so far been affected by a cholera outbreak that has left 32 people dead, according to the Ministry of Public Health.

Director of Public Health, Dr Shahnaaz Sharif told Capital News on Tuesday that Moyale and Siaya districts had collectively reported 36 new cases of cholera in the last 24 hours.

?Moyale has reported 28 cases, while Siaya has eight new cases,? Dr Sharif said.

He said a total of 1,097 cases of diarrhoea had been reported, out of which 141 had been confirmed as cholera cases.

?Cholera is manifested by diarrhoea. We take a few samples and if they turn out positive for cholera we do not confirm for the rest because it is very expensive to confirm for all,? he explained.

?So we classify everyone who comes in with diarrhoea as cholera.?

The first case of cholera was reported in December last year in Nyanza and Dr Sharif said the province was still at risk together with Moyale, Athi River and Isiolo.

?You know this is the longest drought we have had since 1983, and there is no water, so people will get it (cholera) from any source and that?s why we are working very closely with the Ministry of Water because the issue is water and sanitation,? he said.

?If you don?t have clean water, you will have cholera and the Ministry of Water is now taking water tankers to those affected areas,? Dr Sharif added.

Meanwhile, the Meteorological Department has said that the long rains have started in all parts of the country apart from North Eastern, where it is expected to begin on Wednesday.

Assistant Director Ayub Shaka however told Capital News that the country could be faced with another failed rain season, as only Western Kenya would receive adequate rainfall in the March to May long rains season.

?The rest of the country will experience depressed (minimal) rainfall,? he said.

?It?s only in May when almost every part of the country will receive normal rainfall, but again North Eastern will not get the normal rainfall,? Mr Shaka added.

He however said the rain would not be continuous and the country would experience dry spells in between.

?And despite the fact that some of areas like the arid and semi arid will have minimal rainfall, they can still experience one or two storms, which can cause havoc,? the Deputy Director said.

Mr Shaka noted that central parts of the country would have minimal rainfall apart from May, when the area would receive increased rainfall. The Rift valley, which is classified as the bread basket of the country will also receive minimal rain.

According to the department, Embu which is in the central part of the country recorded the highest amount of rainfall in the last 24 hours at 57mm, while Nairobi collected 6.9mm.

?If you get something like say over 10mm, that?s good rainfall anything less than that, is still good rainfall but you might not notice it after a day or two,? he said.

?I would encourage farmers to use agricultural officers so that they can be advised properly and also continue monitoring the weekly weather bulletins and updates for the seasonal rainfall, because in between you can have rapid change.?

 

[Shiloh]

Re: Kenya: Cholera

Source: http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=83734

KENYA: Long rains raise fears of new cholera cases

ISIOLO, 1 April 2009 (IRIN) - New cases of cholera are being recorded amid fears of an increase in the spread of the disease as the long rains start. Already, cases have been reported in 17 districts, according to a senior health official.

"At least 176 cases of acute watery diarrhoea [AWD] have been reported in Kipsing [north of the eastern district of Isiolo]; of these, at least three have tested positive for cholera," Shahnaaz Sharif, the director of public health and sanitation, told IRIN.

"Some 1,097 AWD cases have been reported nationally since late 2008, of which 137 have tested positive for cholera," he said. Cholera is an acute, diarrheal illness. Although infection is often mild, death can occur within hours without treatment, due to dehydration.

Three deaths had been confirmed in Kipsing, Sharif said. The diarrhoea outbreak has been attributed to the use of contaminated water from a dry riverbed due to prolonged drought.

A lack of access to health facilities for those living in remote parts of the predominantly pastoralist Isiolo District had contributed to the deaths, according to the district steering group.

Isiolo medical officer Stephen Kiluva told IRIN that an isolation ward has been reserved for the infected at Isiolo district hospital; a temporary ward has also been set up in a classroom in Kipsing, 40km from Isiolo.

"We need food, mattresses and ... additional personnel as well as vehicles and drugs. It is expensive caring for those [who are] out of town," Kiluva said.

A ban on food hawking and the sale and delivery of raw cow and camel milk is in place in the affected areas, according to the district public health officer, Richard Lyusah.

Cholera cases have also been reported in the Moyale locality in the northeast. As of 25 March, 172 cases of cholera, mostly women, had been reported in the township, Manyatta Burji, and Ethiopia/Biashara street areas bordering the Moyale locality in Ethiopia, according to a health ministry briefing.

"Because of the current drought, residents are using untreated water from boreholes that just three months ago had been submerged," Titus Mung?ou, Kenya Red Cross Society (KRCS) communications manager, told IRIN, adding that limited latrine coverage and cross-border interaction had fuelled the spread.

Mung?ou expressed concern that the spread of the disease would be exacerbated should the rains bring floods. In late 2008, floods submerged hundreds of latrines and contaminated water sources in the northeast, with cases of diarrhoea reported.

High water-table levels in some of the affected areas increased the risk of contamination, he said.

The province of Nyanza is also facing its third outbreak of cholera since December 2007, with the districts of Kisumu East and West, Nyando, Rachuonyo, Homa Bay, Migori, Suba and Rongo affected, according to KRCS. Cases have also been reported in Kakamega, in Western Province, and Athi River, near Nairobi.

Mung?ou said the outbreak in Kisumu East was due to the contamination of water sources by municipal and residential waste and a lack of proper drainage. Seepage from latrines into wells was also a risk factor in the Nyanza region.

KRCS and Ministry of Health teams are carrying out water purification and trucking in affected areas.

na/aw/mw

 

[Shiloh]

Re: Kenya: Cholera

Source: http://www.kbc.co.ke/story.asp?ID=56525

Cholera deathtoll reaches 41
Written By:Carol Gakii/Margaret Kalekye , Posted: Wed, Apr 01, 2009

The death toll from a cholera outbreak in the country has risen to 41 as the government stepped up efforts to contain the disease.

Public Health Minister Beth Mugo said on Wednesday that 72 other people suffering from the disease had been admitted to various hospitals in the country.

Addressing a press conference, Mugo said the government had spent over Shs 9M in efforts to control the spread of the disease.

The Minister said public health officers were on high alert, adding that a total of sixteen districts had been affected by outbreak of the disease.

The highest cases of cholera outbreak had earlier been reported in Kisumu East with 229 followed by Machakos with 177.

Meanwhile, the Director of Public Heath Dr. Shanaaz Shariff said surveillance of cholera in Nairobi has been stepped up.

He however said containing the disease in the city would be a major challenge since it was a key transit point for most people.

Last week the government said it was drilling 98 new boreholes in the affected areas, adding that it would also distribute chlorine based tablets to purify drinking water.

Meanwhile, one more person has died bringing to 12 the number of people who have died of cholera in Isiolo district in the past one and half weeks. Local Medical Officer of Health (MOH) Dr Stephen Kiluva said the death occurred in Kipsing location .

Dr Kiluva while briefing the district steering group (DSG) at the DC's office said the number of cholera cases had also risen to 323 from 283 as the deadly disease spread to Daaba village in Isiolo North where 5 cases were reported on Tuesday night.

 

[Shiloh]

Re: Kenya: Cholera

Source: http://www.capitalfm.co.ke/news/Local/Cholera-alert-sounded-in-Kenyan-Capital-3903.html

Cholera alert sounded in Kenyan Capital
BY CATHERINE KARONG'O
Update 45 minutes ago

NAIROBI, Kenya, April 1- Kenya?s Capital City, Nairobi, has now been declared to be at risk of a cholera outbreak that has hit some parts of the country.

Director of Public Health, Dr Shahnaaz Sharif, said on Wednesday that the Ministry of Public Health was taking precautions to ensure no cases occurred in Nairobi, which was a transit point.

?I remember we had one case in 2006 and from one case it became around 250 cases of cholera. So we are taking all precautions here in Nairobi, making sure that the surveillance system works,? he told a news conference.

?The secret of cholera control is having a surveillance system that works,? he emphasised.

Public Health Minister Beth Mugo was at pains to explain why it had taken long to contain the disease with the number of confirmed cases having risen to 173.

47 deaths have also been reported and 72 people are currently admitted to various hospitals across the country.

?But it is worth noting that most of these deaths occurred in the villages or at home because of delay in seeking medical attention,? the Minister emphasised.

She said about Sh9 million had been spent to contain the disease, which has spread in 16 districts since its eruption in December last year.

?We have closed eating places that do not meet minimum standards. If a person contracts the disease they are advised to start home treatment immediately with oral rehydration solutions or locally prepared fluids like soup, fruit juices or water before the patient goes to a health facility,? Mrs Mugo advised.

She said anybody who experiences watery diarrhoea should seek immediate medical attention.

Rachuonyo, Kisumu East and Homa Bay districts - all in Nyanza province - have the highest number of confirmed cases at 34, 31 and 30 respectively.

Isiolo and Moyale in Eastern Province recorded the highest number of new cases in the last one week with 212 and 87 cases respectively.

 

[Shiloh]

Re: Kenya: Cholera

Source: http://www.kbc.co.ke/story.asp?ID=56579

Cholera claims four more lives in Isiolo
Written By:Rose Kamau , Posted: Fri, Apr 03, 2009

Four more people have died following a cholera outbreak in Isiolo district.

This brings to 16 the number of deaths resulting from the highly contagious disease in the last eleven days.

Area medical officer of health (MOH) Dr Stephen Kiluva said two people including a pregnant woman and an elderly man from Daaba village died at the district general hospital while undergoing treatment.

The other two died at Kipsing, the epicenter of the outbreak while another death occurred at the livestock monitoring division (LMD), Dr Kiluva said.

The MOH added that 73 new cases of infection have been recorded in Kipsing, Daaba, Isiolo and LMD raising the cumulative figure of those affected to 478 up from 405.

Addressing a district steering group meeting chaired by local DC Waweru Kimani, Dr Kiluva said a team of experts in communicable diseases was already on the ground seeking for ways of containing the disease.

Following the outbreak the World Health Organization (WHO) has sanctioned the immediate contracting of five nurses to be deployed to Kipsing where an acute shortage of medical personnel is hampering progress in containing the disease.

Meanwhile ,a makeshift ward is being established at LMD on the outskirts of Isiolo town to complement the isolation ward at the district general hospital whose capacity has been stretched beyond limits.

The DC said awareness on sanitation should be stepped up in order to curb the spread of the disease.

On Wednesday Public Health minister Beth Mugo said the government had spent over Ksh 9 million in efforts to control the spread of the disease.

The Minister said public health officers were on high alert, adding that a total of sixteen districts had been affected by the outbreak of the disease.

 

[Sally Furniss]

Re: Kenya: Cholera

Kenya: Cholera Still Affecting Four Districts

21 May 2009

Isiolo ? Four districts in Kenya are still reporting cases of cholera, which has spread partly because of population movement and because of a water shortage, which has led to poor sanitation and hygiene, a senior health official said.

As of 21 May, the districts affected include Kajiado, Moyale, Laisamis and Tinderet, in Kenya's Eastern, Northeastern and Rift Valley provinces. About 17 districts were affected at the peak of the cholera outbreak earlier this year.

"Nationally, at least 240 cases have been laboratory-confirmed to be cholera," Shahnaaz Sharif, Director of Public Health, told IRIN, adding that about 1,842 cases of those presenting with symptoms such as diarrhoea and vomiting had also been recorded and treated as cholera.

"When one sample in an area tests positive for cholera then we treat all those coming in with similar symptoms for cholera," Sharif said. "It is extremely difficult and time-consuming testing everyone."

Among the recently confirmed cases are four in Nairobi and in Ongata Rongai, on the outskirts of the capital, he said.

The four cases involved recent travellers to the western Kenya region, which had been affected in an earlier cholera outbreak. No new cases have been reported in the region in the past 21 days, he said.

Some 62 cases of diarrhoea have been reported in Laisamis, according to the Kenya Red Cross Society (KRCS) Upper Eastern office. Some 45 patients have been admitted to the Laisamis Catholic Mission Hospital, said Liban Mohamed, KRCS regional co-coordinator, adding that treatment kits had been sent to the area.

Other affected areas include the localities of Merille and Logologo, in the northeastern district of Marsabit, and Archers Post area in Samburu District.

According to local leaders, more people may have died of the disease in remote parts of the affected districts due to a lack of access to health facilities.

Some schools and hotels have been closed in a bid to control the spread of the disease. "Hotels... have been closed in all these centres, traders are losing business," said Hussein Ahmed Rage, Marsabit county council official. "Children are now at home, it is a crisis... the government should... help."

According to the Marsabit county council chairman, Mohamed Kochale, the situation is likely to deteriorate because of the prevailing drought. "We need mobile health services. People also need food..." he said, adding that a lack of food was undermining patients' response to treatment.

Peter Kasanga, Laisamis area health officer, told IRIN that additional medication had been requested to help deal with the cases.

Meanwhile, Sharif said the third round of polio immunisation would begin on 25 May in the northwestern Turkana region, where 13 cases have been confirmed - up from two in March. The last polio case in Kenya was recorded more than 20 years ago.

http://allafrica.com/stories/200905220771.html

 

[Sally Furniss]

Re: Kenya: Cholera

An acute water shortage in parts of eastern and northeastern Kenya is fuelling the spread of acute watery diarrhoea (AWD) and cholera, with deaths from new cases being reported, a senior health official has said.

"People are resorting to drinking water from anywhere because of the shortage," Shahnaaz Sharif, director of public health in the Ministry of Public Health, told IRIN.

"Recently, four deaths have been reported in Garbatulla [District] where about 280 AWD cases have been reported in the last three weeks," Sharif said, adding that samples from those affected had been collected for laboratory testing.

Three new cholera cases have also been reported in Laisamis District and two in Moyale District.

"In total, 24 cholera deaths and 1,452 cases of diarrhoea have been recorded since January," he said. Cholera is an acute, diarrhoeal illness. Although infection is often mild, death can occur within hours without treatment, due to dehydration.

According to a resident of Laisamis, Mohamed Kochalle, some of those affected are self-medicating using traditional herbs, as they cannot access health facilities.

Hundreds treated

Hundreds of patients have been treated for diarrhoea and vomiting in Malkadaka in Garbatulla District and Bullesa in Isiolo, according to the Kenya Red Cross Society (KRCS) and health officials.

This is worsening the plight of the region's inhabitants who are already facing a severe drought, said KRCS communications manager Titus Mung'ou, adding that medical drugs, health personnel and volunteers have been mobilized to help contain the outbreak in Garbatulla.

"Our organization has recruited volunteers to support the relief teams in Garbatulla... We have provided drugs and consumables but our efforts are faced with a lot of challenges including [a] shortage of personnel and financial resources..." he said.

Mung'ou said the disease is increasing the number of people in need of relief assistance and worsening food insecurity in the region.

A lack of food is also affecting adherence to treatment regimes. "We have requested food aid; it must be provided urgently for the control measures to work... Food assistance will also encourage treatment," Lordman Lekulkulai of the Arid Lands Resource Management office in Isiolo said.

Inadequate sanitation

Inadequate sanitation has exacerbated the situation. "We only have one toilet for 600 pupils. It is the main reason why our school has been affected," Sora Boru, a head teacher at Bullesa primary school in Isiolo, told IRIN. "Many children have [not] reported for school... Parents are keeping them at home."

Hygiene awareness campaigns have been intensified in the water-scarce region.

According to Yussuf Ali, a trader, the price of bottled water has increased. "A half litre [bottle] of water is selling at Ksh.100 [about US$1.3]... even higher than petrol."

http://allafrica.com/stories/200906170764.html

 

[Shiloh]

Re: Kenya: Cholera

Source: http://www.nation.co.ke/News/-/1056/614522/-/ukcfro/-/

More suspected cholera cases
By NATION TeamPosted Tuesday, June 23 2009 at 20:05

In Summary

Medical officer said tests being conducted to determine illness

Eight patients were taken to a Kisumu hospital after they were suspected to be suffering from cholera. They were from Nyalenda B, Dunga and Kajulu Hills in Ongadi area.

Kisumu medical officer of health Rose Obara yesterday said medical workers were carrying out laboratory tests to ascertain the health status of the eight.

?We have not been able to isolate cholera from the tests that we have conducted so far. But we are carrying out further tests,? she said.

Acting chief public health officer Gradus Warindi said should cholera be confirmed, the municipality will take adequate measures, including banning some food outlets from operating.

Mr Danstan Makokha, a member of the municipality?s communicable diseases response team, said they visited all the water sources in Nyalenda on Monday and chlorinated them. They also took samples for further analysis.

In Nairobi, Public Health and Sanitation minister Beth Mugo said the death toll from the cholera outbreak now stood at 89 countrywide.

Speaking in her Afya House office in Nairobi, the minister described the outbreak as an ?emergency?.

?I would like to make an appeal to MPs and other leaders to join my ministry in creating awareness by urging local communities to observe strict hygiene measures at all times to keep the disease at bay,? she said.

The ministry has received Sh22 million from the World Health Organisation to hire temporary medical workers to tackle the disease in Laisamis, Moyale, Isiolo and other areas.

In Mombasa, the municipal council has started rehabilitating drainage systems in key markets to contain a cholera outbreak that has claimed three people in the district and 86 others countrywide.

The Kongowea wholesale market, which has more than 5,000 traders, was the first to be cleaned up on Monday.

?We are determined to improve the sanitary conditions of all markets and public areas to contain the cholera outbreak. Council workers have been deployed to all markets to rid them of filth,? Mr Otieno said.

 

[Shiloh]

Re: Kenya: Cholera

Source: http://www.nation.co.ke/News/-/1056/654600/-/umsm3k/-/

Eight die of cholera in Marsabit
DAILY NATIONNews

By LUCAS BARASA and MIKE MWANIKIPosted Monday, September 7 2009 at 22:30

In Summary

* 15 others in serious condition after getting infected

Eight people have died of cholera in Laisamis, Marsabit, while six members of a Nairobi family are being treated of the disease at the Kenyatta National Hospital.

Fifteen others in the northern Kenya region are in serious condition, according to MP Joseph Lekuton.

The six Nairobi family members contracted the disease in Dandora Estate, Embakasi, after drinking contaminated water from a nearby well, the Public Health director, Dr Shanaaz Shariff, said on Monday.

Following the outbreak, a team of Public Health officials visited the area and treated the contaminated water with chlorine tablets.

?As the water rationing continues to bite, I would like to appeal to residents to observe basic hygiene standards and ensure they boil drinking water at all times,? Dr Shariff said.

If residents are unable to boil their drinking water, the director said, they should add a teaspoonful of Jik into 20 litres of water and allow the chemical to remain overnight.

The rationing programme in the city is forcing some residents to use water from unknown or contaminated sources.

Increased cases
At the same time, the drought being experienced in most parts of the country has also led to a severe shortage of water, resulting in a rise in cases of cholera and other water-borne diseases.

According to experts, more than 50 people have died from the killer disease in various parts of the country in the past six months.

Mr Lekuton told journalists in Nairobi yesterday that the killer disease was spreading fast among the pastoral communities.

?The situation has been worsened by lack of hospitals in the area,? he said.

 

[Shiloh]

Re: Kenya: Cholera

Source: http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=87397

KENYA: Cholera claims 24 lives in northwest

NAIROBI, 11 December 2009 (IRIN) - An outbreak of cholera in northwest Kenya has killed at least 24 people over the past two weeks according to a senior health official.

Some 193 cholera cases were recorded between 23 November and 9 December, said Director of Public Health Shahnaaz Sharif, adding that the Kapedo and Lokori areas of East Pokot district were the most affected.

However, Sharif said, there has been a decline in new cases; one was reported on 10 December.

"The outbreak is as a result of using contaminated water," he said adding that safe drinking water is being trucked in the region.

Boreholes are also being sunk, he added. Residents in East Pokot mainly rely on water pans and shallow wells, which easily get contaminated in case of heavy rain or sharing with livestock.

According to a December update by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, rains were undermining sanitation and hygiene practices.

"Cholera in some parts of Kenya has become endemic and with deteriorating /non-existence of public health and social services in poor urban settlements and continued public policy failures, the situation is worsening," it added.

In mid-November, residents of Kapnyung'uny village in neighbouring East Baringo district developed cholera-like symptoms with some deaths reported, according to the Kenyan Red Cross.

This caused some residents to flee towards areas such as Lomelo, Kapedo in East Pokot and the Silale and Nasorot hills with reported continuity of the disease?s symptoms, it added.

East Pokot borders the northern district of Turkana where another cholera outbreak is ongoing. Nairobi North District has also been affected.

The Red Cross has set up a medical camp to reach cholera patients in East Pokot. Along with health officials, the KRCS team is also conducting hygiene campaigns and distributing water purification tablets.

aw/am

 

[Shiloh]

Re: Kenya: Cholera

Source: http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2009-12/18/content_12664250.htm

UN agencies respond to deadly outbreak of cholera in Nw Kenya
www.chinaview.cn 2009-12-18 06:47:05

UNITED NATIONS, Dec. 17 (Xinhua) -- United Nations humanitarian agencies are providing emergency supplies and other forms of assistance to Kenyan government officials as they respond to an outbreak of cholera in the northwest of the country that has left at least 26 people dead, UN officials said here on Thursday.

More than 200 cases of cholera have now been reported in the outbreak, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said on Thursday, with most deaths occurring in relatively remote and inaccessible areas.

The UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) has provided hygiene and sanitation supplies and begun working with authorities in Turkana East district to finalize a joint response plan to the outbreak.

OCHA reported that it has also conducted a joint assessment mission to two affected areas with officials from Kenya's National Disaster Operation Center and its Ministry of Public Health and Sanitation.

Cholera is an acute intestinal infection picked up through contaminated food or water, and results in diarrhea that can lead to severe dehydration and death unless there is prompt treatment.

OCHA said the probability of contaminated water sources has increased in northwestern Kenya because of the prolonged drought in the region, which has forced villagers and farmers to rely on water wells that are shared with both livestock and wild animals.

 

[Shiloh]

Re: Kenya: Cholera

Source: http://www.nation.co.ke/News/-/1056/829394/-/vo7vco/-/

Man dies as 12 battle cholera

DAILY NATIONNews

News
Man dies as 12 battle cholera
By ISIAH ESIPISU and KNAPosted Tuesday, December 22 2009 at 20:00

In Summary

* Three children also die due to possible outbreak of the disease

Three children died of suspected cholera outbreak in Kajiado Central, while a man died of the disease in Turkana Central.


Another 12 people are fighting for their lives in Kalokol Division, Turkana Central District.

“We were treating it as diarrhoea until two weeks ago when we decided to screen for cholera due to overwhelming cases of the same nature,” said Mr Lawrence Ekatapan, a clinical officer at AIC Kalokol mission health centre, the only referral health facility in the area apart from Lodwar District Hospital, 60km away.

First case

He said 43 people have been diagnosed with the disease since the first case was identified on December 8.

“We are treating 12 cases, with four admitted at the health centre. Others have been discharged, while one succumbed to the disease yesterday,” said Ekatapan.

With the assistance of Oxfam and Unicef in Turkana, a tent has been pitched at the premises to isolate cholera patients.

Mr Ekatapan suspects the main cause of the outbreak is poor sanitation, especially among communities living around Lake Turkana.

“Some people defecate directly into the lake, which is the only source of water for some of the residents,” he said.

He said long distances to health centres were a deterrent for residents in need of medical attention. “The nearest health centre from here is the Namukuse dispensary, which is 20 km away.

“But in other instances people, especially those from the lake region, have to travel for more than 100km,” he said.

In Kajiado Central District, the three children aged between three and nine years reportedly died following an outbreak of diarrhoea in five villages.

Six other people were admitted to the Kajiado district hospital where they are being treated for diarrhoea as medical personnel await the outcome of tests from Nairobi.

Were guests

Kajiado Central district commissioner Kello Harsama said most people were guests at a traditional ceremony at a village in Namanga division who could have drunk contaminated water.

Page 2 of 2

He said medical officials have been sent to the village and to four other areas where about 40 cases of diarrhoea have been reported.

 

[Shiloh]

Re: Kenya: Cholera

Source: http://www.nation.co.ke/News/region...ns of cholera die /-/1070/883114/-/3itrhvz/-/

Alarm as eight with signs of cholera die

By GALGALO BOCHA and AMINA KIBIRIGE
Posted Friday, March 19 2010 at 20:56

Eight people have died in several parts of Msambweni District after showing cholera symptoms.

Another 130 have been treated for running stomach at different hospitals within the area, five of whom had tested positive for cholera.

According to the district medical officer, Mr Kelvin Kinywa, 11 public schools, including five secondary schools, had been closed indefinitely in a bid to avert further spread of the disease.

Mr Kinywa said the affected areas were Vitsangalaweni, Mwenza Mwenye, Lunga Lunga, Mwikwiro Island and Bomani within Shimoni Division...

 

[Shiloh]

Re: Kenya: Cholera

Source: http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/289412

Cholera outbreak kills at least 5 in Kenya, 663 confirmed cases
By Andrew Moran.

The outbreak in Kenya has killed at least five people in the northern region but there have been 663 confirmed cases across the country with the death toll expected to rise...

...According to All Africa, however, the outbreak of cholera has been ongoing since January with 663 confirmed cases in 15 districts across the country. In the eastern district of Tharaka, there have been approximately 127 confirmed cases of cholera since Mar. 7.
The Ministry of Public Health and Sanitation stated that at least 15 people have died in the last three months as of Mar. 19...

...In 2009, there were at least 781 confirmed cholera cases with 274 deaths in the outbreak because of water shortages, drought, contaminated dry river beds and unsanitary conditions...

 

[Shiloh]

Re: Kenya: Cholera

Source: http://www.nation.co.ke/News/regional/-/1070/885016/-/8rc5bn/-/

Schools shut over cholera outbreak

Posted Tuesday, March 23 2010 at 14:47

The Government has shut down 16 schools in Msambweni District in Kenya's Coast Province in a bid to contain the spread of the deadly cholera disease.

So far, eight people have died and and left 250 others hospitalised from the outbreak.

The learning institutions will remain closed until the situation normalises, said the district's Medical Officer Dr Kevin Kinyua...

 

[Shiloh]

Re: Kenya: Cholera

Source: http://www.nation.co.ke/News/regional/Girl dies in new cholera outbreak /-/1070/894120/-/on15cf/-/


DAILY NATION
Provincial
Girl dies in new cholera outbreak

By ANTHONY KITIMO and MATHIAS RINGA
Posted Tuesday, April 6 2010 at 21:00

In Summary

* Five others are being treated at Likoni hospital, says medic

Cholera killed a seven-year-old girl on Tuesday at the Likoni district hospital.

Five other people have been admitted to hospital as the disease continues to stalk parts of Coast Province.

The latest cholera outbreak has been recorded in Likoni District and comes two weeks after the disease left 10 people dead. More than 250 have been treated in hospitals in Msambweni.

Medics, on the other hand, expressed fears that the heavy rains currently pounding the region could worsen the situation as the floods could contaminate water pans and wells...

 

[Shiloh]

Re: Kenya: Cholera

Source: http://www.nation.co.ke/News/Cholera outbreak claims eight lives /-/1056/915924/-/66bkwe/-/

Cholera outbreak claims eight lives

By MIKE MWANIKI and ANTHONY KITIMO
Posted Monday, May 10 2010 at 21:00

In Summary

* Drugs sent to West Pokot as four more taken ill in Kilifi

Eight people have died following a cholera outbreak in West Pokot District while four others are being treated in Kilifi.

A similar outbreak had been reported in Kajiado, but medics quickly brought the situation under control.

Public Health minister Beth Mugo on Monday said that health personnel and adequate drugs had been sent to West Pokot to stem further spread of the disease.

?It is also encouraging to note that no outbreak has been reported in Kisumu, which is usually a hotspot for the killer disease,? Mrs Mugo said.

The minister was speaking in her Afya House office in Nairobi when she received the outgoing World Health Organisation country representative, Dr David Okello.

Dr Okello, who took up his Kenya posting in 2006, has been promoted to director for HIV/Aids and Tuberculosis (Africa region) and will be based in Brazzaville, Congo.

The official urged the government to prioritise the reduction of maternal and neo-natal deaths, saying they were still ?very high?.

Mrs Mugo said that her ministry was currently recruiting nurses who will be sent to health centres which will be built through the Constituency Development Fund.

Meanwhile, the minister is expected to leave the country tonight to attend the annual WHO health ministers assembly meeting in Geneva, Switzerland.

In Kilifi, four people were admitted to hospital and several treated and discharged following a cholera outbreak in Matsangoni village.

The four are admitted to a cholera treatment centre set up at Matsangoni dispensary.

Health officials from Kilifi district hospital have been sent to the village in a bid to control the situation.

First case

Ms Janet Charo, a villager, said that the first case of diarrhoea and vomiting was reported three weeks ago.

?My children were treated for vomiting and diarrhoea early this month. One has been diagnosed with cholera,? she said.

 

[Shiloh]

Re: Kenya: Cholera

Source: http://allafrica.com/stories/201005241503.html

The Nation (Nairobi)
Kenya: Cholera Fears as Dysentery Kills Five People
Eddy Ngeta
24 May 2010


Nairobi ? Five people have died from a suspected dysentery outbreak in East Pokot District in the past three days.

The victims include a mother and her child as well as a 35-year-old man. The three who died on Friday were from Amaya location.

In Tangulbei, two men died of massive dehydration on Thursday night after a bout of vomiting and diarrhoea overnight and twelve more were rushed to a hospital in Choru.

Two school girls in Nginyang had to receive urgent treatment to save their lives.

Many more people in the district are reportedly receiving home based care as the disease continues to take its toll on the pastoralist community.

Residents are now living in fear amid rumours that the disease could be cholera and not acute dysentery as health officials were saying.

Mr James Kipkulei, the Amaya location chief, said residents were afraid it could be a cholera outbreak.

"The girl and her mother died in less than six hours since the onset of the diarrhoea and vomiting. The symptoms are indicative of a cholera outbreak though health officials say that it is a case of acute dysentery. We really don't know what is going on and many people are dying," he said.

Local community leaders and officials from Non Governmental Organisations coordinating relief efforts in the area echoed the sentiments.

"We have seen several cases now and the numbers are rising by the day. All indications point to cholera because of the high mortality rate and the short period between the onset of symptoms and time of death," said Mr Musa Kibon of ActionAid.

Area Member of Parliament Asman Kamama, who is also a Higher Education assistant minister, dismissed the cholera fears as unfounded and said the Government had confirmed that it was acute dysentery occasioned by recent flash floods and poor hygiene.

Mr Kamama was addressing residents as he handed over a motorbike and Sh250,000 to the chief's office to coordinate efforts to fight the disease.

 

[Ronan Kelly]

Re: Kenya: Cholera

One Nurse, One Dispensary and 9,000 Patients
Joyce Mulama
2 July 2010


Nairobi ? Kang'atotha dispensary is secluded and surrounded by the shrubs of Kang'atotha Division in the arid and semi-arid Turkana.It is a beehive of activity; patients sit on the benches waiting to be served, some groaning in pain. Others have come to collect medicine. Pregnant women sit at a corner; they have come for ante-natal care.

Mothers have brought their small and crying children for immunisation. An old man is seated on the floor with a deep cut, bleeding profusely. The would urgently needs dressing.

The scene is chaotic. Julius Ekeru Lokiyoi, the nurse in-charge, and the only medical staff at the facility, is evidently overwhelmed. He rushes to dress the old man's cut, leaves it midway to attend to the pregnant women. Moments later he is immunising the children, 50 in number. That mission is hardly accomplished before resumes dressing the bleeding old man.

Immunising babies

Standing by the window are tired patients asking for drugs. They have been waiting over three hours. Among them is Regina Ekwara who, with her 11-month-old baby strapped to her back, had walked for more than 20 kilometres to get medicine.

Machine-like Lokiyoi attends to the people standing in the queue for a while, then resumes immunising the babies.

"I am everything in this hospital. I do the clerking, examination of patients, dispensing drugs, stitching cuts, ante-natal care and even delivery or babies," he said, wiping strings of sweat off his face.

He soon leaves to assess the condition of a woman in labour screaming in a tiny makeshift ward within the dispensary.

Lokiyoi has been working like this for close to three years now. And at times he is forced to go to Lodwar District Hospital, 68 kilometres away, to collect drugs due to supplies delay by the Kenya Medical Supplies Agency. Whenever he is away, the dispensary is left unattended.

Drug shortage

"There is so much to do here. The demand for healthcare services is huge but facilities are scarce. I have been requesting for more nurses to help with the workload, all I have got are empty promises," he noted. He would be comfortable with two or three more nurses at the dispensary, which serves a population of 9,000.

The chronic shortage of health personnel and drugs is replicated across most facilities in the region. Even Lodwar District Hospital, a referral institution, is not spared. The hospital, which serves the surrounding districts, has just four nurses, according Dr Gilchrist Lokoel, who is in charge.

Turkana, a 77,000 square kilometres region, is Kenya's largest district. It has 34 health facilities and only 24 are operational. The rest have no staff, and are mostly run by community health workers, stated Dr Lokoel.

"The lack of medical staff contributes greatly to our inability to adequately respond to disease outbreaks and other emergencies," he says. This has conspired to make preventable and treatable diseases more deadly than elsewhere in the country. Cholera claimed 34 children from August to December last year. More than 20 people have died this year from the same illness.

Challenges

With the absence of health personnel, awareness creation on issues such as immunisation is minimal. Immunisation coverage in the area is only 57 per cent, up from 47 per cent last year, according to Dr Lokoel. This makes a mockery of the government's vaccine and immunisation plan which aspires to fully immunise at least 80 per cent of children in all districts by 2010.

The challenges are far-reaching, with unreliable refrigeration due to gas shortage, damage of vaccines is endemic. "We have to wait for funds from the government to buy gas, and the money delays all the time," said Lokiyoi, adding: "In the process, vaccines get spoilt, and the few mothers who trek miles to bring their children for vaccination, often go back mission unaccomplished."

Development organisations in the region state that investment in rural health infrastructure is key to achieving the Millennium Development Goals.

"Increased investment in health delivery, particularly in this area, is urgent to avoid unnecessary fatalities from preventable diseases," noted Nicholas Wasunna, World Vision Kenya's special adviser.

Recently the health sector received one billion shillings boost for hiring nurses, public health technicians and upgrading hospitals, purchase of ambulances, and motorcycles for community health workers. It is hoped that under-resourced health facilities such as Kang'atotha and Lodwar District Hospital will be given priority when the funds are distributed.

Turkana's under-developed health system, complicated by the nomadic lifestyle in the predominantly pastoralist district, also makes it difficult for communities to access primary health care.

"These people move from place to place looking for pasture and water for their livestock. Interventions need to include mobile health services which should follow the people," noted Innocent Sifuna, the district public health officer of Turkana Central.

"If we have to achieve universal health coverage, then we must take services to such populations rather than wait for them to seek the services," he said.

Mobile health outreaches are underway, where in addition to providing primary healthcare, they are addressing malnutrition, rampant among children, pregnant, and lactating women.

Diseases

"We treat common diseases like malaria, cholera and diarrhoea, and teach the community how to prevent the same. These conditions are worsened by malnutrition since most of this area is semi-arid and people do not cultivate crops, and therefore do not have enough to eat," said Margaret Nasilo, a nurse with World Vision's Humanitarian Emergency Affairs programme for Turkana.

Those with severe malnutrition are admitted to the organisation's malnutrition programme where they are given two-week rations of pre-mixed maize and soya blend as well as vegetable oil.
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