Four dead, 40 admitted as Migori County struggles to contain deadly Cholera outbreak

Migori County is currently grappling with Cholera outbreak which has so far claimed four lives, as 40 have been reported to be infected.

This was confirmed by County Health executive, Julius Nyerere in a press conference in his office in Migori town on Tuesday.

This is despite the County’s efforts to ensure uninterrupted supply of clean water, with Governor Ochilo Ayacko, having commissioned several clean water points.

Recently, the Governor, through the department of water, commissioned water points at different parts of Nyatike Sub County.

This was an effort to ensure that the residents get clean water, which would later boost measures to contain the deadly disease.

Speaking during a press briefing, Health Executive Julius Nyerere said that already, there reported cases of the disease outbreak, which had been confirmed.

“These are cases we had had since we reported cholera cases in Kenya recently,” Nyerere said.

He said that currently Migori has only one cholera patient at Migori Referral Hospital and in the most recent case five people were discharged after being affected at Osiri Matanda gold mines in Nyatike constituency.

“The last person who died was last week after he was reported from Kehancha town, he came to the hospital late after the disease had taken its toll on him,” Nyerere said.

The executive said three other people who also succumbed reported to health facilities late, leading to panic and fear among the public over the rising number of cases.

“We are on high alert and we are keen on any outbreak, we had cases of those having diarrhoea and mistake it for cholera,” he said.

He said the most affected places are poor urban areas and mining areas.

“High cases have been also reported among those taking illicit brews,” he said.

So far the county government and other stakeholders have been distributing water treatment chemicals and information.

“We are also very keen on following up on those who tested positive, so far we don’t have any re-infection,” he said.

He said they have called on those handling food to maintain a high standard of hygiene and use of pit latrine use.