•The disease has killed 10 in Wajir and two in Garissa since January
•Mandera recorded one death but the disease has since been contained
Low latrine coverage and widespread open defecation are responsible for persistent cholera outbreaks in Garissa and Wajir counties, a government report shows.
A report by the Disease Surveillance and Epidemic Response Unit the disease has killed 10 people in Wajir and two in Garissa since January.
Cholera is an infectious disease that causes severe watery diarrhea, which can lead to dehydration and even death if untreated.
It is caused by eating food or drinking water contaminated with a bacterium called vibrio cholerae.
In Wajir, 15 cases were reported in the last one week, with four people currently admitted. Three cases were reported in Garissa in the past week but no one is admitted.
Mandera reported 334 cases since January with one death, but the disease has been controlled in the county.
In Garissa cases are from Hagadera and IFO refugee camps while the outbreak in Wajir has affected Wajir East, Wajir West and Tarbaj subcounties with most of the cases coming from Wajir East.
Image: STEPHEN ASTARIKO
“All other high-risk counties should be on high alert and put in place requisite preventive measures including water quality surveillance, hygiene promotion, enforcement of the relevant public health laws, advocacy and capacity building of all sectors in a multisectoral cholera control,” the report states.
Nationally, the outbreak was experienced in 12 counties, 4,731 cases have been reported, 222 confirmed through lab tests and 37 deaths recorded.
Nairobi has recorded nine deaths since January.
Embakasi East, Embakasi West, Starehe, Ruaraka, Kibera, Lang’ata and Kamukunji subcounties are the worst hit.
“The affected county health teams are advised to heighten surveillance activities, contact tracing and prophylaxis of the contacts, active case search and water quality surveillance and continue with household water treatment,” the report says.
It lists poor health seeking behaviours of affected communities, late reporting from some of the affected counties and weak enforcement of public health laws as other factors contributing to high infection rates.
“There is inadequate multisectoral engagement, limited resources for surveillance and rapid response by county teams and community engagement by county health departments are other challenges,” the report states.
Embu, Machakos, Mombasa, Makueni, Kisumu, Kajiado, Mandera, Narok and Turkana counties have controlled the outbreak.
Kajiado, Narok and Machakos reported four deaths each while Kisumu had three deaths. No deaths have been recorded in the other counties that had the outbreak.
A Unicef report released in April showed that 79 per cent of open defecation cases are in the 13 affected counties.
Turkana, Mandera and Kwale had the poorest records, ranked as places where the majority of residents relieved themselves in bushes.
The other counties in the list were West Pokot, Narok, Migori, Wajir, Kilifi, Baringo, Homa Bay, Garissa, Samburu and Marsabit.
According to World Bank, poor sanitation in some urban areas is compounded by interlinkages with other poor services including solid waste management and water supply.
For instance, Wajir town has a high groundwater table and shallow water wells, which are the main source of water for domestic and livestock use, making the construction of simple pit latrines unfeasible.
About 68 per cent of residents use bucket latrines, a system introduced during the colonial times to protect the groundwater.
During the rainy seasons, feacal waste overflow from buckets is swept away by the storm water, resulting in contamination of the shallow wells.
Consequently, Wajir town suffers from frequent outbreaks of waterborne diseases especially cholera and diarrhea.