Deadly Fever Claims Two As Outbreak Spreads to Kenyan Capital

Text of report by Elizabeth Mwai and Peter Mutai entitled “Two people die of Rift Valley Fever” published by Kenyan newspaper The Standard website on 2 February

The dreaded Rift Valley Fever has killed two people in Baringo District as the disease spreads to Nairobi. In Baringo, two other people are fighting for their lives at Marigat Sub District Hospital suffering from what is believed to be the Rift Valley Fever.

Rift Valley provincial medical officer of health, Dr Ambrose Misore, said the victims were rushed to hospital after complaining of headache, vomiting blood and diarrhoea after feasting on meat of a dead cow.

Following the deaths, Baringo Central MP, Mr Gideon Moi, has appealed to area residents to desist from eating uninspected meat. “I would like to caution my constituents against eating meat of dead animals and report to the veterinary personnel cases of dead animals,” he said.

In Nairobi, two people have been reported infected causing fear that the buffer zones that were meant to keep the disease from spreading from North Eastern and Eastern Provinces may have failed to keep the fever out of the city.

The two, one a worker at a Ruiru butchery and the other at a slaughterhouse in Kiserian, are currently admitted to Kenyatta National Hospital.

A source at the Ministry of Health, who preferred anonymity, told The Standard of the victims: “Based on what they do, they must have come into contact with infected meat.”

However, reports from the hospital (Kenyatta) show that since they were admitted and put on treatment they have stabilized.

The Kenyatta National Hospital acting director, Dr Jotham Micheni, confirmed that the two had been admitted at the hospital with symptoms of RVF. He said they had been brought to the hospital last week.

According to the Health Ministry statistics, the total of reported cases to 416 with the death toll standing at 137, including the latest deaths in Baringo.

So far, Kenyatta National Hospital has treated seven patients two of them from Nairobi.

The reports came in even as the government declared that it was winning the war against the deadly fever.

The Kenya Veterinary Service (KVS) has launched a vaccination campaign in Nairobi in an attempt to contain the disease. KVS chairman, Mr Christopher Wanga, said they began the exercise in Embakasi, as there were numerous open fields in the area.

Meanwhile, the head of meat inspectorate at the KVS, Mr James Karitu, has assured the public that they would ensure that the meat on sale was fit for human consumption. He also appealed to the public to buy meat from licenced butcheries only and cook it well.

At the same time, the veterinary department disclosed that they had extended the ban on slaughtering and movement of livestock to five more districts. This brings to 15 the number of districts where the ban has been slapped. Those added on the list are Laikipia, Thika, Makueni, Lamu and Mwingi Districts.

Consequently, beef butcheries in many towns have resorted to selling chicken instead.

(c) 2007 BBC Monitoring Africa. Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. All rights Reserved.