BLOGS
Rift Valley Fever kills two more people in Wajir
Rising sun in Wajir town. (Abdirahman Khalif)
WAJIR—Two more people have died of suspected Rift Valley fever (RVF) in Wajir, bringing death toll to four as panic grips the county.
Yesterday,Yusuf Abdi the Agriculture CEC said that two days ago five camels died of suspected RVF in the two areas of Eldas.
Wajir County’s Chief Health Officer Noor Sheikh Mohamed said the two deaths occurred outside the local referral hospital but have not independently verified the report.
“We cannot exactly confirm the two deaths, but we have sent a team on the ground for confirmation since the area has low network connectivity and the victims died away from our facilities,” Mr Mohamed said.
Fears of an outbreak forced MCAs to convene an urgent special sitting to approve a Sh300 million supplementary budget for emergencies.
The budget was passed in a record 10 minutes. This time, there were no interruptions, objections or the usual chaos.
Most patients with primary Rift Valley Fever are asymptomatic, but nonspecific respiratory symptoms resembling those of influenza, acute bronchitis, or, less often, acute pneumonia or pleural effusion sometimes occur.
Untreated disseminated coccidioidomycosis is usually fatal.
The disease has been reported in Basir and Lakoley areas in Eldas sub-County.
Hundreds of livestock continue to die in the area due to the outbreak with camels and goats the most affected.
On Monday, MCAs promised to work together since wrangles have disrupted business.
They said they were following in the footsteps of President Uhuru Kenyatta and Opposition leader Raila Odinga who shook hands
