Lamu, Kenya: Public Health officials in Lamu have issued an alert over an outbreak of gastroenteritis disease in Kiunga, Lamu County that has since killed three people.
Officials said over 80 people have been hospitalised in the last one week and called on locals to take precautionary measures.
Lamu County Public Health Officer Nurein Dumilla Thursday cautioned locals against drinking untreated water which he said was the cause of the disease.
He added that 80 people are admitted in various hospitals in the island and that measures have been put in place to stop the spread of the disease.
Majority of those infected are children under the age of five years.
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"The disease is an abdominal infection which is caused by drinking contaminated water or eating contaminated food. It has already killed three people and 80 others have been hospitalised and we are sending an alert to locals to drink only safe water," said Dumilla.
He said due to ongoing drought in the area, twhich has led to water shortage; both animals and human beings have been depending on one source of water.
"Since both human beings and animals are sharing the same source of water, we believe the sharing has led to contamination of water," said the health official.
He said that blood samples from the infected people have been sent to the government chemist and they have tested negative for Cholera.
"We have been treating 40 cases of children less than five years and 42 cases of people above five years. The symptoms include greenish-yellow foul smelling stool, abdominal pain and tenderness," he said.
