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Kenya steps up national cholera preparedness and response

22 May 2025 | Kenya
Kenya steps up national cholera preparedness and response
Kenya steps up national cholera preparedness and response

Nairobi—Kenya is strengthening its national cholera outbreak preparedness and response during the current long rainy season, expected to last until the end of May. Four counties ‒ Nairobi, Kisumu,Migori and Kwale ‒ are experiencing a cholera outbreak, which was declared in late February 2025. So far, 256 suspected cases and 13 deaths have been reported, with a case fatality rate of 5.2%, exceeding the 1% threshold which indicates early and adequate treatment of cholera patients. 
 

In response, health authorities, with support from World Health Organization (WHO), have deployed rapid response teams to the three counties to support local health officials with active case finding, contact tracing, case investigation and management, water sampling and laboratory diagnosis. 

One morning 62-year-old Esther Caroline Ndunta, from Ruai Kasarani in Nairobi county, Kenya, woke up feeling slightly unwell. She did not think anything of it, until a mild headache quickly escalated to vomiting, stomach pain and severe dehydration. "I couldn’t walk. I couldn’t even make tea for my family like I always do,” she says. “I constantly felt like vomiting and rushing to the bathroom." Thankfully, Dunta’s family acted quickly, rushing her to a health facility. "After I was admitted, the doctors and nurses placed me on an intravenous drip and a cholera bed, which made it easier since I didn’t have to move to use the bathroom," says Dunta. With the support of health workers, Dunta made a full recovery.

To support the management of cases like Ndunta’s, WHO has delivered cholera kits to Nairobi county, estimated to treat 1100 mild and severe cases. The kits include medicines and treatment supplies, rapid diagnostic tests for cholera detection, laboratory materials for sample testing, basic medical equipment, protective gowns for health workers and water testing kits. In Migori county, 500 kits have been delivered.

At the national Emergency Operations Centre in Nairobi, WHO supported health authorities to dispatch these critical supplies to health facilities across the capital. "Rapid diagnostic tests have been delivered to all sub-counties in Nairobi, while laboratory commodities will be sent to Level 5 hospitals [those that provide specialized care]to strengthen diagnosis and improve patient care," says Nancy Nyoike, Medical Laboratory Officer at the centre.

WHO has deployed five public health experts to Nairobi county, to strengthen case finding, investigation and contact tracing efforts. At the community level, efforts are also underway to break the chain of transmission. “Community action is essential to control the outbreak," says Jane Mwetheri, Health Promotion Officer for Kasarani and Embakasi North sub-county. “We are working closely with communities raising awareness, distributing water purification tablets and ensuring food vendors meet health standards as outlined in the Public Health Act.”

To ensure that other high burden cholera counties are better prepared to respond to a potential outbreak, in 2024 the Kenyan Ministry of Health, with support from WHO, conducted targeted training sessions in Kajiado, Lamu and Tana River counties, equipping 120 frontline health workers, including nurses, clinicians and laboratory officers, with the necessary skills to manage cholera cases effectively. Participants were trained as “trainers of trainers,” equipping them to effectively transfer the knowledge and skills they acquired to colleagues within their respective health facilities.

Participants were trained in key areas such as surveillance, case detection, testing, case management, infection prevention and control and community engagement. Training also included hands on exercises in cholera management including establishing and operating cholera treatment units. These units are essential in combating cholera outbreaks and have a specific flow that allows for infection prevention and control measures, including rehydration areas and recovery beds. In emergency situations, these units are set up in tents for quick deployment. "This training has provided us with important updates on cholera case management, helping us fight any outbreaks as they occur," says Samuel Kiti, a medical laboratory technologist in Garsen, a town in Tana River county.

Participants also mapped existing health facilities that can be repurposed into cholera treatment units when resources are insufficient to establish large scale cholera treatment centres at bigger hospitals. “This continued initiative underscores our shared commitment to safeguarding public health, improving coordination and preparedness, equipping health workers and protecting vulnerable communities,” says Dr Abdourahmane Diallo, WHO Representative in Kenya.

Back in Nairobi, Ndunta has been discharged and is back home. Community health promoters have visted her, checking on her recovery and educating her family and neighbours on using water purification tablets, proper handwashing, avoiding cold food and maintaining hygiene at food preparation areas and toilets. "I feel so much better now. I am grateful to everyone who helped save my life," says Ndunta.

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