• Ministry directed the county disease surveillance team to look into the matter.
• Government in April raised a cholera alert in five counties, six deaths reported since January.
The management of Riara Group of Schools is investigating reports of a possible cholera outbreak in one of their campuses.
Group executive director Alan Gachukia said the management had received reports from their Riara Road campus on Friday morning.
“We have received reports that some pupils had been reported to be having stomach issues so we have started looking into the matter,” Gachukia said.
The director said the reports concerned a few students and not staff.
“We will be able to comment on the matter once the investigations are through. Part of the process involves having tests done by Kemri so it might take time,” he said.
The Health ministry director-general Masasabi Wekesa said he had received a report from the media about the issue and had directed the county disease surveillance team to look into the matter.
Cholera is an infectious disease that causes severe watery diarrhoea, which can lead to dehydration and even death if untreated.
It is caused by eating food or drinking water contaminated with the cholera bacterium.
When a person consumes the contaminated food or water, the bacteria releases toxins in the intestines that produce severe diarrhoea.
Symptoms of cholera can begin as soon as a few hours or as long as five days after infection.
Symptoms are often mild. But sometimes they are very serious.
About one in 20 people infected has severe watery diarrhoea accompanied by vomiting, which can quickly lead to dehydration.
Although many infected people may have minimal or no symptoms, they can still contribute to the spread of the infection.
The government in April raised a cholera alert in Narok, Kajiado, Nairobi, Garissa and Machakos counties with six deaths reported since January.
In the same month, a worker died of the disease at Nairobi Hospital and 54 people were hospitalised.
The hospital’s cafeteria was closed as the management battled to contain the disease.
In 2017, the city county faced a major cholera outbreak prompting the county government to call for the closure of roadside eateries and banning of food hawking.
The World Health Organization recommends that in case of an outbreak, there should be proper and timely case management in cholera treatment centres.
Edited by R.Wamochie