- The affected students were treated at the Butere level 4 hospital and discharged in stable conditions.
- There was confusion when the Western Regional Director of Education Jared Obiero said that learning was on at the school.
Butere Boys' High School in Kakamega has been closed indefinitely following a cholera scare.
All students were sent home after 100 students complained of stomach irritation that led to diarrhea.
"Dear parent/Guardian, this is to inform you that your son has been sent home due to an outbreak of stomach problems leading to diarrhea,” read the message.
“Once the public health office gives us a report declaring the school safe for your son, we shall recall them back. Bear with us, Principal."
The affected students were treated at the Butere level 4 hospital and discharged in stable conditions.
Western Regional Director of Education Jared Obiero, however, denied that the school had been closed.
He claimed that learning was on at the school.
Obiero said 80 form-one students who complained of stomach irritation were treated and discharged.
“It is like they ingested something that caused the irritation because you know form ones eat last. They were stabilized but were given antibiotics. There is no cause for alarm,” Obiero said on the phone.
“We are investigating to establish the cause of the irritation,” he said.
He dismissed reports that the school had been closed over a cholera scare.
“The difference with the Mukumu case is that in Mukumu the students were taking longer to heal,” he added.
The incident comes barely a day after the Sacred Heart Mukumu Girls High School in the county was closed for one month following the death of two students from a bacterial attack.
124 students at the school were admitted to the Kakamega County General Hospital last Wednesday with diarrhea.
Doctors said that the students suffered a bacterial attack from either contaminated water or food.