100 fall ill after eating meat from sick cow

More than 100 residents are recuperating after receiving treatment for dehydration following severe vomiting and diarrhoea.

The locals from Kamaua village are said to have consumed meat from a dead cow, which had been suffering from an unspecified disease.

They were taken to hospital complaining of severe stomach-ache, vomiting, diarrhoea and general body weakness.

Speaking to The Standard, Kimoning Chief Jonah Tuitoek said a livestock trader bought the animal but it later became unwell.

"The trader sought help from a veterinary officer who treated the cow but it later died," Tuitoek said.

Despite the animal's mysterious death, the trader, with help from other villagers, is said to have slaughtered the animal and then chose to sell the meat to locals.

"Some were giving out maize, wheat or millet in exchange for the meat and in no time, the whole carcass had been sold all across the village," the chief said.

It was not until a day later when trouble struck. Everyone who had had consumed the meat, especially those who ate some organs like the liver, started complaining of sharp abdominal pains accompanied by severe diarrhoea and vomiting.

"We initially thought that those affected ate the meat raw but we were alarmed when it emerged that over 100 people in the village were exhibiting similar symptoms," he said.

Mr Tuitoek said they mounted a house to house search to check on everyone who ate the meat after residents failed to seek medical attention.

"Medical officers pitched camp at Tumsolia Early Childhood Development centre where they offered treatment to residents and serious cases were referred to Kapteren sub-county hospital in Elgeyo Marakwet County," he said.

The local administrator said the cow's owner has been summoned to explain why he sold the uninspected meat to residents.

"We shall take legal action against the owner of the animal because he jeopardised the lives of residents," he said.

Confirming the incident, county Health Services Director Dr Evans Kiprotich said the situation has been contained and patients stabilised.

"We are treating this as a case of food poisoning and our team of veterinary and public health officials are still at the village collecting information," the director said adding that they are trying to find the meat samples for testing.