The government has closed down 10 food businesses premises within Moyale sub-county as the fight against the contagious disease entered its sixth week. Marsabit County Executive Committee (CEC) member for health Grace Galmo also revealed that the disease whose first case was confirmed on February 20, this year has so far claimed three lives out of 13 established cases. Ms Galmo said awareness campaigns against the disease have been heightened with members of the public being educated on the mode of spread, prevention and control of cholera and other related diseases. The CEC said inspection of eateries has been regularized with 10 food premises that were found unhygienic out of 32 eateries that have so far been inspected being closed down. ‘We have up-scaled the routine inspection of food premises and closure of all unhygienic eateries’ she said, adding that food hawking activities have also been banned in Moyale and Sololo townships. The CEC who gave an update to the media regarding the outbreak, said contact tracing of cases has been effectively carried out with 92 contacts identified having been administered with prophylaxis and their residences disinfected. The county government has also established isolation rooms for both male and female wards at the Moyale sub-county referral hospital while a temporary isolation ward has been created at the Sololo Mission hospital to ease management of confirmed cases. The CEC called on residents to observe cleanliness and ensure stagnant water in their compounds is drained adding that her department has distributed 24,176 aquatabs and 13,128 sachets of PUR to help residents in the sub-county to treat drinking water at the household level. The government is concerned that the disease is still active in the sub-county despite the raft of measures taken to contain it with the latest positive case having been reported in the last 24 hours. The confirmed cases consist of seven males and 6 females out of which 5 are still admitted in the isolation wards. Ms Galma disclosed that the case fatality rate stands at 23 per cent from the confirmed cases which were all local transmissions. She urged public health personnel to remain vigilant across the county adding that school heads and principals have also been sensitized about the outbreak.

Source: Kenya News Agency