Huffington Post: Stepping up the fight to end cholera and chikungunya outbreaks in Mandera County, Kenya



Mandera’s double whammy, the concurrent outbreaks of cholera and chikungunya, is bringing to the fore the need for accelerated epidemic preparedness and prevention systems.

Cholera is an acute diarrhoeal disease that can kill within hours if left untreated.

Chikungunya virus is most often spread to people by Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus mosquitoes. These are the same mosquitoes that transmit dengue ,yellow fever and zika virus. Its symptoms include high fever, joint pain, rash and headache. There is no vaccine to prevent or medicine to treat chikungunya virus infection.
The twin epidemics have hit the expansive north-eastern county in Kenya, with half the population coming down with chikungunya virus infection. Since April, almost 1,103 cases of cholera has been reported in Mandera including 16 deaths, 3 being children.
My take:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/siddharth-chatterjee/stepping-up-the-fight-to_b_10319574.html

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