Outbreak: 14 cholera cases reported in Nairobi

Fourteen cholera patients have been admitted to various city hospitals, the Nairobi County Government has said.

Last week, the county's Health Department had issued an alert of a possible cholera outbreak in the city.

Health Chief Officer Washington Makodingo said on Tuesday that six patients had been treated and discharged.

Makodingo, who appeared before the county Health Committee, said Pumwani Maternity Hospital recorded six cases of cholera last week.  He said one patient came from Eastleigh, two from Embakasi, one from Ruai and two from Imara Daima.

"When the patients were admitted, doctors carried out tests to ascertain if they were suffering from cholera. The tests were positive. The patients were isolated and treatment started immediately," he said. 

Makodingo said the following day on Thursday last week, the hospital also admitted two other patients who were from Imara Daima.

Within the same period, Kenyatta National Hospital also received three suspected cases of cholera. The patients were from Murang'a and two from Machakos. 

“We urge the city residents to wash their food and cook it properly. They should treat their water. People must observe basic things like washing hands before eating and after visiting the lavatories to prevent,” Makodingo said.

The county has issued chlorine tablets in areas where cholera has been reported. At least 50,000 tablets have been distributed.

“The county is doing contact tracing. We suspect the outbreak is coming from Mlolongo. However, The patients in county hospitals have been isolated, so we cannot say that there is a countywide outbreak,” Makodingo said.

He also said the Health Department will inspect all city food joints which are among the primary source of cholera. The county will be liaising with Nairobi Water Company to super-chlorinate water. 

Cholera treatment units have been set up across all county health facilities and doctors have been asked to be on standby in case the disease spreads.