Medical experts pitch camp in Marsabit to probe mysterious killer disease

A team of medical experts is expected to pitch camp in Kargi, Marsabit County, to investigate a mysterious disease that has so far claimed nine lives.

The team’s members are from the Kenya Medical Research Institute (Kemri), the Ministry of Health and the Division for National Malaria Programme (DNMP).

The group of surveillance, virology, and entomology experts, among others, will reinforce county government medical experts and officers from the Kenya Red Cross Society and non-governmental organisations, who are already on the ground.

Maurice Anyango, Red Cross’ Upper Eastern regional coordinator, told the Nation by phone that medics from the county were already conducting the mass screening of residents of the Kargi location.

“We are working in collaboration with a team from Kemri and the Ministry of Health, who will soon establish the type of disease that is killing residents,” Mr Anyango said.

Kemri’s entomology research team and experts from the DNMP will collect samples for lab tests to establish the hosts of the mysterious disease.

Mr Anyango appealed to Kargi residents and the county government to grant the team the support it needs to successfully carry out the research.

Fear has engulfed Kargi following the outbreak of the unknown disease.

Kargi Chief Mohammed Arbelle told the Nation that hundreds of residents have been flocking to the Kargi Health Centre for mass screening.

The sick are also undergoing treatment and no deaths have been reported since one occurred on Tuesday night.

“We are thankful for the exclusive media highlights of the plights of Kargi residents that have seen various cadres in healthcare pitching camp here since yesterday, undertaking mass screening and treatment of the sick,” Mr Arbelle said.

The disease was first reported about two weeks ago, with preliminary tests indicating the victims may have succumbed to a violent malaria.

However, out of the 27 patients who were screened, only five tested positive for malaria.

According to a medic who spoke to the Nation on condition of anonymity, most of the affected persons exhibited flu-like symptoms and had yellowed eyes and severe headaches.

The physician explained that the latest victim had flu-like symptoms, a swollen spleen, severe headache, and yellowish eyes. He said the patient tested positive for violent malaria but noted that kala-azar could not be ruled out.

In 2019, a kala-azar outbreak in Laisamis sub-county, Marsabit, led to the deaths of at least seven people in Log Logo, Laisamis and Kargi. At least 27 Laisamis residents were hospitalised.

Kala-azar is caused by over 20 species of a parasitic protozoa of the genus Leishmania.

The disease is transmitted to humans by sand flies (Phlebotomus and Lutzomyia species), which mostly live in anthills and mud houses.

In December last year,  Kemri’s entomology research team and a DNMP team detected a new dangerous mosquito vector in Marsabit.

The discovery was made during a routine mosquito surveillance in counties across Kenya. After conducting tests, Kemri confirmed a new malaria vector known as Anopheles stephensi in Saku and Laisamis sub-counties.

Until its detection in Kenya, Anopheles Stephensi was only known to occur and spread malaria in South-East Asia, the Middle East and the Arabian Peninsula.

The mosquito species has been expanding its geographic range over the last decade, with detections reported in Djibouti (2012), Ethiopia, Sudan (2016), Somalia (2019) and Nigeria (2020).