Cholera kills two in the Kenyan coast

At least two people have died and seven were hospitalised after a cholera outbreak in Kenya's coastal town of Kwale, according to health officials.

The victims, a man and a child, died last Wednesday at the Vanga Health Centre, the Kwale District Health Officer, Zaheer Bagha said.
He said that the patients were in a stable condition and that the disease had been contained.

"We are educating people on proper hygiene. We are asking them to boil water before drinking it and to eat cooked food," he said.

Bagha added that officials were chlorinating water in the area to check the spread of the disease.

The last outbreak of cholera in the area occurred in 2002. In June 2005, a cholera outbreak in the Kibera slum in the Kenyan capital Nairobi killed at least three people. This was blamed on poor sanitation, with the government promising an intensified health-education campaign.

Cholera is a waterborne disease, which causes serious diarrhoea and vomiting and is life-threatening if not treated within 24 hours.

Washing hands before handling food can prevent it and avoiding contaminated drinking water.

fo/mw