Kiambu governor Kimani Wamatangi has said that the recently reported cases of cholera outbreak in the county has been effectively contained.
He says that the scare originated from Limuru Sub-County last Saturday after 15 people who had attended a wedding tested positive after consuming suspected contaminated food and drinks.
The governor told a media briefing at the county headquarters that 15 patients had contracted the disease with 12 of them having been treated and discharged while three others were admitted at the facility’s Intensive Care Unit ( ICU).
“The first positive case of Cholera was reported after the patient went to Tigoni level 4 hospital where he was admitted. The same day three more cases were reported from the Division of Disease Surveillance and Response unit, who had been admitted in Nairobi County,” Wamatangi said.
“The four cases had consumed food at a wedding function that took place on October 8, 2022. It was found that the bride and the bridegroom outsourced food and drinks from different caterers/vendors and from different locations in Nairobi and Kabete Sub County,” he added.
The total number of confirmed cases as of October 16, 2022, was 15. The cases are distributed as Limuru (4), Ruiru (3), Kiambaa (3), Kiambu town (1), Juja (1), Gatanga (2), and (1) unknown. All 15 cases had attended a wedding in Limuru Sub County.
Three of the patients had culture-positive stool specimens. 12 out of 15 cases have been hospitalized with moderate to severe disease with 3 patients admitted to the ICU.13 (87%) of the cases were male while 2 (13%) were female.
Preventive measures
Cholera is an infectious disease which presents with sudden onset of watery diarrhoea and vomiting associated with the ingestion of contaminated water and/or food with cholera germs.
“As a response to the outbreak, Kiambu County Government Department of Health Services have taken the following measures: an alert sent to health workers to notify this outbreak, take note of clinical presentation and have a high index of suspicion to all suspected cases of diarrhoea,” the governor said.
The Nairobi and Murang’a counties have been informed and they are working closely with Kiambu County. The Public Health Department has strengthened awareness creation on the cholera disease and the prevention and control measures to be adopted.
He noted that his administration has heightened surveillance for acute watery diarrhoea, by conducting active case search and contact tracing by the Sub County Public Health Officers, disease surveillance and Community Health Services Coordinators.
Outgoing health CEC Dr Joseph Murega said that all cases have been managed in different facilities in the affected sub-counties.
He called upon all members of the public to visit the nearest health facility once they experience diarrhoea and advised them to take clean water and where not possible to use water treatment chemicals.
“Members of the public are advised to use latrines/toilets and avoid defecating in the open. The Public Health department has undertaken water sampling from the area where the function took place and the water has been certified as fit for human consumption,” Murega said.
“The Public Health Department is undertaking water sampling from all water sources in the affected sub counties. The Kiambu County government wishes to reassure residents that it will continue to monitor and coordinate response with an aim of bringing it to an end as quickly as possible,” he added.
