Brave woman, children exposed to deadly rabies after hyena attack

Laikipia, Kenya: A brave woman who fought off a hyena, which invaded her home in Laikipia County recently, is fighting another battle.

Namaita Lengoloya, 38, with her four children have been vaccinated against rabies after tests showed the hyena was suffering from the disease.

Namaita’s case has put Kenya’s preparedness to handle the disease in the spotlight as the vaccine could only be found in Nairobi while antibodies were procured from a private hospital in Nairobi, The Standard on Saturday has learnt.

Namaita, a housewife single-handedly fought off the hyena at the break of dawn as she and her four children slept.

She quickly picked up a piece of firewood to defend herself as the hungry beast burst into the house and attacked her at Maundu ni Meri, Laikipia West.

The family was admitted to Nyahururu District Hospital in a serious condition.

The 3am battle lasted for over half an hour before neighbours came to their rescue. Two of their neighbours also sustained injuries and have received the anti-rabies vaccine and antibodies.

The beast violently pushed the door open and entered.

Her ten-year-old son Supukia Lengoloya lost three teeth and suffered a jaw fracture when he was bitten on the face.

Violent behaviour

His seven-year-old sister, Siato Lengoloya, was bitten on the back of the head. Two other children were unhurt.

Earlier, the hyena had stormed Mr Nkumai Lolopeta’s house and inflicted a deep bite on his left leg while another neighbour, Mteto Kirsan, escaped with a bruise on the leg as they fought the animal out of their house.

Following the incident, wildlife officers collected brain samples from the dead hyena to test for rabies infection only to confirm their fears.

“The animal’s violent behaviour raised suspicion as a likely case of rabies, but we are happy this was discovered early enough and the victims have been given vaccines,” said Dr Mijele Domnic, a Kenya Wildlife Service veterinary. According to Dr Austine Bitek, a veterinary at the government’s Zoonotic Disease Unit (ZDU) the hyena is suspected to have acquired the disease from an earlier dog bite.

Animal health experts have raised the alarm over roaming dogs saying most of these animals aren’t vaccinated against the viral disease. Rabies is a zoonotic disease (a disease transmitted from animals to humans) caused by a virus and known to cause death in all persons who develop symptoms.

About 2,000 Kenyans die annually from rabies in a country whose first rabies outbreak was traced to a dog in 1912 in the outskirts of Nairobi and the first case of human rabies was documented in a woman from the Lake Victoria basin in 1928.

Sadly, the diagnosis of rabies in both humans and animals can only be confirmed in three animal laboratories situated in Kericho, Mariakani and Nairobi. Rabies has been ranked as one of the top five priority animal-to-humans transmitted diseases in Kenya with an outlook to eliminate it in ten years through mass dog vaccination campaigns. The Laikipia patients received five doses of the vaccine and vaccinated against tetanus.

According to a medical doctor in charge of a public health facility, anti-rabies vaccines and antibodies are in short supply. In 2012, the Ministry of Health procured 60,000 doses against an estimated need of 500,000 doses per year based on reported animal bites exposing a gap on the importance of eliminating rabies as preventive treatment than reliance on the treatment and management of rabies.

“While some gaps in vaccine supply are filled by non-public practitioners, many human and animal cases are unable to obtain vaccines,” reads part of the draft strategic plan that seeks to eliminate the disease 2030.