Cholera outbreak hits Kenya's largest refugee camp

Nov 17 2011

"Cholera has broken out in the world's largest refugee camp in Kenya, home to nearly 500,000 Somali refugees, the United Nations said on Tuesday," Reuters reports (Nebehay, 11/15). "There are now 60 cases of cholera in [Kenya's Dadaab complex], including 10 laboratory-confirmed cases and one refugee death, according to Andrej Mahecic, a spokesperson for the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)," the U.N. News Centre writes.

"To manage the cholera outbreak, UNHCR and its partners have set up cholera treatment centers for severe cases," the news service writes, adding, "The agency is working with [UNICEF] and the Ministry of Health to train health workers in the community-based management of diarrhea so that patients can begin treatment at home" (11/15). "The UNHCR ... says insecurity is still hampering aid efforts in the area, despite the deployment of 100 Kenyan policemen in the last month," and "the situation has been exacerbated by the outbreak of the waterborne disease," BBC News notes (11/15).