Cholera stalks locals amid acute water shortage

TOP: Josephine Ogaja, a public health officer from Rongo, administers cholera immunisation drops to a pupil of Sumba Primary. INSET: Jane Diang'a, mother to cholera victim, Peter Otieno, mourns her son's death. [PHOTO: STANLEY ONGWAE/STANDARD]

Migori, Kenya: Dominic Diang’a, a resident of Ndege Oriedo in Rongo, is yet to come to terms with the loss of his son as a result of a deadly cholera attack.

Peter Otieno, 28, died three weeks ago after the illness that lasted less than 24 hours.

“We were summoned to his place of work near Asumbi and rushed there to find him experiencing severe vomiting and diarrhoea. We carried him to the nearest medical facility but he was pronounced dead on arrival,” Mr Diang’a told The Standard.

Health officials, who carried out tests on the deceased, confirmed to the family that the young man had died of cholera.

A distraught Diang’a said his son had been living in a place that had no water forcing residents to drink from pans and dams.

HEALTH EDUCATION

Otieno’s death is not an isolated event with Ministry of Health saying more than eight people have died from the ailment, in the region, in the last 10 months, with an additional 150 being admitted in various health centres across the region.

It is for this reason that healthcare personnel have taken to the villages educating locals on the disease in order to contain its spread.

Yet despite these gallant efforts, cholera strains, which keep making residents fall prey to the disease, still remain.

The most affected areas include Ndege Oriedo, Opapo, Magina which is the border point of Homabay and Migori Counties and the border area of Asumbi.

It has been close to two months since the outbreak was reported in the area and a sense of panic is still evident in the area especially after a new case was reported around Kamondi area over the weekend.

The situation is set to get even worse due to persistent drought, that has ravaged the region for close to four months now, leaving residents to rely on dirty water for their everyday use.

Depleting water sources have also led to incidents where people bath, others wash utensils while others draw the same water for domestic use.

It is however not all gloom and doom as the county government has assured residents that they have engaged in partnerships to ensure the disease is contained.

“We have intensified outreach campaigns on importance of shunning practices such as bathing in water sources, feasting in funerals and hawking food.

These efforts have already paid off since we have managed to contain emergence of new cases,” said Health Services Director Dr Joel Gondi.

Speaking to The Standard, Dr Gondi said all parents should ensure their children have been immunised against the disease adding that this is a major intervention against spread of the ailment.

The immunisation campaign has been going on in schools and social places since the disease was first reported.

PIPED WATER

However, part of the challenge being encountered by county officials in containing the disease is that very few people have access to piped water.

In Rongo sub-county, which has so far recorded the highest number of cholera cases, only a population of less than five per cent is connected to piped water and this is thought to have aggravated the problem even more.

Dr Gondi, however, assured residents that the county government is working to ensure everyone has access to piped water in a bid to contain not just cholera but all other water-borne ailments.

At the moment, only Migori and Awendo Towns have small portions of their populations enjoying running water.

The county government is however, about to commission Awendo and Rongo water projects as a long term measure on hygiene and sanitation.

Migori is not the only county dealing with the disease with Ministry of Health saying at least 12 people have died from the disease, across the country, while more than 200 others have been admitted after exhibiting cholera-like symptoms.