MANDERA (Halbeeg News) – Over twenty cases of Kala-azer, world’s second largest parasitic killer were confirmed in Mandera county near Kenya’s border with Somalia.
Mandera Public Health Chief Officer Rahma Abdullahi told the media that the country’s hospital is struggling to treat only of the patients but the rest of patients being treated at the Wajir County Referral Hospital.
“We have reported cases of kala-azar in Kutulo Sub county and about 16 infected persons have been taken to Wajir for treatment,” she said.
The county chief officer said the situation at Kutulo was endemic and those cases can be managed at Elwak, which is closer than Wajir.
“The drought in the area is leading to this situation after the sandflies multiplied and since livestock migrated, the flies now bite people, infecting them,” she said.
Mandera is negotiating for the establishment of a kala-azar treatment centre at Elwak in Mandera South and the county referral hospital in Mandera East.
“We are engaging the Vector Borne Disease Control Unit at the Ministry of Health in Nairobi to help us set up treatment centres in Mandera before the situation worsens,” she said.
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