Four people die of cholera in Migori as cases increase

A healthcare worker administers a Cholera vaccine to a resident of Mathare slums in Nairobi during the mass vaccination drive. [Denish Ochieng, Standard]

Four people have died of cholera while at least 40 others have been treated in various health facilities following an outbreak of the disease in Migori County.

Health officials are racing against time to contain the spread with officials mapping out slum areas in the region as the worst hit.

The County's Executive member for health Julius Nyere confirmed the deaths and described the developments as alarming.

According to the CEC, they have identified Apida area in Suna East as well as mining areas as among the hotspots. 

“There was also one case in Kuria and all these depend on the hygienic condition in these areas,” Mr. Nyerere said.

He stated that no cases had been reported in rural areas, with all the cases concentrated in urban centers.

The health department has moved to educate residents in the most affected areas on the symptoms of the disease and the importance of hygiene.

“Migori residents should maintain high standards of hygiene,” he said.

About two weeks ago, the department was at the verge of declaring the county cholera free until the cases started surging.

Nyerere said 40 people had been treated and discharged.

However, he indicated that they were still monitoring them and doing contact tracing.

“We are still observing them and tracing more people. Though we have one admitted, we are still not off the hook because the rains have not yet started so that we get clean water in our residences,” he stated.

Early in the Month, the Health Ministry had said the country had reported at least 10 cases of cholera in Nairobi and Mandera counties.

According to the cholera situation report by the Ministry of Health, Mandera is leading with eight cases, followed by Nairobi with two cases.

The new cases brought in total 11, 872 the number of Cholera cases that had been reported in the country since October last year.

Cholera cumulative deaths stand at 194. “Among the 194 deaths reported, 78 (40 per cent) are from Nairobi, and Tana River counties, while Garissa and Wajir account for 35 (18 per cent) deaths in total,” read part of MoH’s report.