Cholera outbreak: One dead, 30 cases reported in Kakuma
Turkana County has intensified surveillance and sanitation efforts following an outbreak at the Kakuma Refugee Camp.
Health authorities in Turkana County have intensified surveillance and sanitation efforts at the Kakuma Refugee Camp to combat a cholera outbreak that has claimed one life since the first reported case on May 18.
According to Janerose Tioko, the County Chief Officer for Preventive and Promotive Health, 30 positive cases have been confirmed from 74 tests.
The latest case was reported on, June 8 at Amussait Hospital.
The response includes improved water, sanitation and hygiene practices alongside enhanced surveillance, case management and community engagement aimed at fighting the cholera outbreak in the camp and the Kalobeyei integrated settlement.
Ms Tioko said the county health department, with support from various development partners, has strengthened surveillance systems within the host and refugee communities in Kakuma and Kalobeyei.
“We are sensitising communities through community health promoters on the importance of maintaining high levels of sanitation, practicing good hygiene at the household level and improving water treatment at both water sources and in homes. We have also banned hawking and open-air cooking of food,” Ms Tioko said.
Turkana West Sub-county Public Health Officer Lumbasi Rapando confirmed that no positive case has been reported outside the refugee camps. When a person tests positive for the disease, teams are deployed to their homes to conduct contact tracing, and to disinfect and sanitise possibly contaminated areas.
“We have activated our surveillance teams to ensure that once the disease is detected, we contain it at the source to prevent its spread,” he said. “We have stepped up the inspection of food outlets. Licences are revoked and premises closed for those that do not meet the required standards.”
Mr Rapando noted that since the last cholera outbreak in 2020, the county has relied on an outreach initiative to promote proper sanitation and hygiene in the refugee camps. “We can't fully prevent the spread of diseases in congested areas such as the refugee camps, especially given the high mobility of the population. Refugees, particularly from South Sudan, frequently move in and out of the camp, including returning to their home countries. This movement contributed to the latest outbreak,” he explained.