{"id":330844,"date":"2017-06-23T06:55:48","date_gmt":"2017-06-23T06:55:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/citifmonline.com\/?p=330844"},"modified":"2017-06-23T06:55:48","modified_gmt":"2017-06-23T06:55:48","slug":"kenya-cholera-outbreak-hits-dozens-at-health-conference","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2017\/06\/kenya-cholera-outbreak-hits-dozens-at-health-conference\/","title":{"rendered":"Kenya cholera outbreak hits dozens at health conference"},"content":{"rendered":"
Nearly 50 people have contracted cholera while attending a health conference in Kenya’s capital.<\/p>\n
The infected delegates were among hundreds who had gathered for the four-day forum organised by the Ministry of Health at a Nairobi hotel on Tuesday.<\/p>\n
They have been isolated in a city hospital, but health officials say the number of people infected may rise.<\/p>\n
It is unclear how they caught the disease, which has led to five deaths in the past month.<\/p>\n
Cholera is an acute diarrhoeal infection caused by ingestion of food or water contaminated with the bacterium Vibrio cholera.<\/p>\n
Most of those infected will have no or mild symptoms but, in severe cases, the disease can kill within hours if left untreated.<\/p>\n
In Yemen, a large cholera outbreak is fast approaching 300,000 cases, according to UN humanitarian chief Stephen O’Brien. He described it as a “man-made catastrophe” caused by both sides of the country’s ongoing civil war.<\/p>\n
In a press release on 24 May, Kenya’s Ministry of Health said there had been 146 cases across the country since the outbreak began.<\/p>\n
Some of those infected had attended a wedding at an upmarket estate in Nairobi.<\/p>\n
As a result, authorities put in place emergency measures to try and curb its spread.<\/p>\n
An outbreak two years ago killed 65 people across Kenya.<\/p>\n
–<\/p>\n
Source: BBC<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Nearly 50 people have contracted cholera while attending a health conference in Kenya’s capital. The infected delegates were among hundreds who had gathered for the four-day forum organised by the Ministry of Health at a Nairobi hotel on Tuesday. They have been isolated in a city hospital, but health officials say the number of people […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[19],"tags":[8528,8529,8530],"yoast_head":"\n