The ministry of health has issued a cholera alert following confirmation of 61 cases reported across six counties.
According to acting Director General for health Dr Patrick Amoth, the outbreak whose origin can be traced to a wedding festival in Kiambu County was spread across Kiambu(31), Nairobi(17), Murang’a(1), Kajiado(2), Nakuru(2) and Uasin Gishu (8) counties.
Of the sixty-one cases reported, thirteen people are currently hospitalized while eight have been discharged with forty treated as outpatients.
The acting Director General for health says the National Public Health Microbiology Laboratory has isolated Vibrio cholera-01-Ogawa as the responsible serotype.
This even as he warned that the ongoing drought situation in the country may worsen the outbreak.
“Of the sixty-one (61) cases so far, thirteen (13) are currently hospitalized, eight (8) have been discharged while forty (40) were treated as outpatients.
“The National Public Health Microbiology Laboratory has isolated Vibrio cholera-01-Ogawa as the responsible serotype,” read the Ministry of Health statement in part.
Fortunately, no death has been reported since the outbreak first surfaced.
How to Prevent Cholera
According to the World Health Organisation, maintaining good hygiene and sanitation is the long-term prevention of the disease outbreak.
The Health system should also be on high alert to detect symptoms that gravitate around acute watery diarrhoea with severe dehydration.
