Kenya's Nairobi issues cholera alert

Kenya's Nairobi County on Thursday issued an alert over possible cholera outbreak across the city of Nairobi after five cases were confirmed.

Nairobi County Health Executive Bernard Muia said the patients who contracted the fatal water-borne pathogen from their kin who had travelled from Western Kenya on Saturday to attend a wedding in Karen, an affluent suburb of Nairobi.

Muia said three unconfirmed deaths at a residential estate in Nairobi have also been reported but are under investigation. He said that the victims are suspected to have travelled to visit relatives in Komorock residential estate after coming from the wedding.

"There is a cholera outbreak in Nairobi and the victims are receiving care at the Nairobi hospital. They are in stable condition. So far we have five cases which have been laboratory confirmed," Muia said.

He said health workers have launched surveillance across the city to ensure new cases are timely detected and household water treatment supply and dosing of wells with chlorine is being undertaken.

The official said six surveillance centers within Nairobi have since been reactivated and advised city dwellers to be on the look-out for diarrhoea, vomiting and lack of appetite symptoms.

"It is presumed that they (travelers from western Kenya) spread the disease to city residents but we are putting measures in place to avoid the disease from spreading any further," Muia said.

He dismissed claims that the disease could have been spread by food handlers at the wedding, saying that the county had put strict measures in place to ensure hygiene.

Cholera is a potentially fatal water-borne disease transmitted through contaminated water and/or food. It causes watery diarrhea and vomiting that can rapidly lead to death through severe dehydration.

Generally the cholera bacteria spreads in places with poor hygiene, where people do not use latrines to dispose off excreta, or do not wash their hands with soap or ash after defecation. Endit