Dave Opiyo
11 April 2008
Nairobi — Fifty nine people have died of cholera in the past five months in what the Ministry of Health reckons to be the most serious outbreak to hit the country in the recent past.
A total of 1,217 cases have been reported in 16 districts in Nyanza, Rift Valley, North Eastern and Western provinces.
According to Health ministry statistics, Nyanza Province was the hardest hit with at least 45 deaths and 750 infections in 10 districts.
Areas most affected in Nyanza include Suba, Migori, Homa Bay, Rongo, Siaya, Kisumu East, Kisumu West, Bondo, Nyando and Kisii South.
Hardest hit
In North Eastern Province, 12 people have died and another 448 infected in Mandera East and Central districts.
Rift Valley and Western provinces recorded two deaths and 19 infections. The hardest hit areas include Naivasha and Nakuru districts in Rift Valley and Bunyala in Western Province.
On Thursday, the director of Medical Services, Dr James Nyikal, said most of the reported deaths occurred at home.
At a news conference in Nairobi yesterday, Dr Nyikal said the ministry had issued an alert to all health personnel to be vigilant for early detection and management of patients suffering from diarrhoea.
He said that drugs worth Sh17 million had been sent to the affected areas all over the country.
Public use
"We have distributed to the affected areas chlorine-based tablets and solutions for water treatment at household levels."
Water boards and local authorities were also asked to ensure that all water supplied for public use was treated and that all households should use toilets.
Dr Nyikal also announced the ban of food hawking, with immediate effect in the affected districts.
Also included in the ban is the preparation and eating of food in public gatherings such as funerals in the affected areas.
He said the Government was particularly concerned by risk areas such as eating premises and bus stops on major highways such as Busia, Kisumu, Kericho, Nakuru, Naivasha, Nairobi, Voi, Mutito Andei and Mombasa.
And he confirmed that there were no outbreaks of the disease in internally displaced camps.
Be the first to Write a Comment!
Copyright © 2008 The Nation. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections — or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here.
AllAfrica aggregates and indexes content from over 125 African news organizations, plus more than 200 other sources, who are responsible for their own reporting and views. Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica.
