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KENYA: Conflict and viral fever hurting northeasterners
Impact of RVF
After the Kenyan health ministry and the World Health Organization (WHO) confirmed the outbreak of RVF when samples taken from Garissa District tested positive for the disease in December, Kenya also banned the sale or slaughter of livestock in affected areas.
Garissa is the epicentre of the outbreak, but the disease has spread to adjacent pastoral districts including Wajir, Ijara, Tana River and Kilifi, killing at least 88 people.
According to the Famine Early Warning System Network (FEWS Net), the RVF outbreak has exacerbated food insecurity among pastoralists already suffering from severe drought over the last three years, followed by floods between October and December 2006.
Livestock movements have been constrained by restrictions to control the RVF outbreak. "As a result, pastoral households face a substantial reduction in income and food access due to the ban on trade and slaughter of livestock," FEWS Net said in a report published on 18 January.
FEWS Net said political tensions in Somalia could result in the movement of pastoralists and livestock in and out of the country, despite the ban, spreading RVF beyond Kenya.
According to Duale, Kenyan traders used to buy at least 10,000 heads of cattle monthly from Somalia before the conflict and the RVF outbreak. Many of the traders abandoned their livestock inside Somalia.
Officials say the disease is being contained, with the ban on the sale and slaughter of livestock in Northeastern Province still in place.
"What I can confirm now is that RVF is under control in Kenya," said Kariuki Njenga, a virologist and laboratory director for the United States Centers for Disease Control in Kenya and the Kenya Medical Research Institute. "We are working together and have increased surveillance throughout the country, especially in livestock areas."
For Duale, government reassurances have come very late. "Why did the government close the Somali border without notifying people and yet many of them depend on cross-border trade?" he asked.
KENYA: Conflict and viral fever hurting northeasterners
Impact of RVF
After the Kenyan health ministry and the World Health Organization (WHO) confirmed the outbreak of RVF when samples taken from Garissa District tested positive for the disease in December, Kenya also banned the sale or slaughter of livestock in affected areas.
Garissa is the epicentre of the outbreak, but the disease has spread to adjacent pastoral districts including Wajir, Ijara, Tana River and Kilifi, killing at least 88 people.
According to the Famine Early Warning System Network (FEWS Net), the RVF outbreak has exacerbated food insecurity among pastoralists already suffering from severe drought over the last three years, followed by floods between October and December 2006.
Livestock movements have been constrained by restrictions to control the RVF outbreak. "As a result, pastoral households face a substantial reduction in income and food access due to the ban on trade and slaughter of livestock," FEWS Net said in a report published on 18 January.
FEWS Net said political tensions in Somalia could result in the movement of pastoralists and livestock in and out of the country, despite the ban, spreading RVF beyond Kenya.
According to Duale, Kenyan traders used to buy at least 10,000 heads of cattle monthly from Somalia before the conflict and the RVF outbreak. Many of the traders abandoned their livestock inside Somalia.
Officials say the disease is being contained, with the ban on the sale and slaughter of livestock in Northeastern Province still in place.
"What I can confirm now is that RVF is under control in Kenya," said Kariuki Njenga, a virologist and laboratory director for the United States Centers for Disease Control in Kenya and the Kenya Medical Research Institute. "We are working together and have increased surveillance throughout the country, especially in livestock areas."
For Duale, government reassurances have come very late. "Why did the government close the Somali border without notifying people and yet many of them depend on cross-border trade?" he asked.