THE government is struggling to contain the spiralling cholera outbreak, which has so far killed about 50 in four months.
The Health ministry says 10 counties have been hit by the killer disease, with about 2,520 cases being reported.
“As of May 11, 2,520 cases and 50 deaths had been reported nationally,” Health Cabinet Secretary James Macharia said in a statement yesterday.
The Ministry report indicates that the counties with the highest death tolls are Nakuru (14), Migori (12) and Nairobi (11).
Nakuru, which was among the latest counties to be hit, had 153 reported cases while Migori had 915 and Nairobi 228.
Other affected counties are Homa Bay with 337 cases (five deaths), Bomet 272 (two deaths), Mombasa 80 (five deaths) and Murang'a 338 (one death).
Kirinyaga (93 cases) and Kiambu (10) have so far not suffered any deaths.
Macharia said the outbreak has so far been controlled in Homa Bay, Migori and Bomet.
The CS attributed the crisis to the devastating dry spell experienced in many parts of the country earlier in the year.
“It resulted in scarcity of safe clean water, forcing communities to seek for water in contaminated sources," Macharia said.
He said these include shallow water well and dams and illegal water connections in the informal settlements in Nairobi.
The heavy rains that have been pounding the country over the last one month have escalated the situation, the CS said.
He said this is due to the flooding of toilets, leading to contamination of the environment with feacal matter.
“Other risk factors for the outbreak include poor hand hygiene, low use of latrines in some of the affected communities and eating food in unhygienic restaurants,” Macharia said.
He said the Health ministry's Outbreak Coordination at the national level has been meeting weekly to assess the situation and advise on response activities.
Part of their strategy involves heightened surveillance, Macharia said.
“Currently, national disease control experts have been sent to Nairobi, Nakuru, Mombasa, and Muranga,” he said.
Macharia said a national meeting with representatives of all 47 counties is scheduled for May 25 to strategise on how to end the outbreak.
