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Mukumu Girls: Killer illness is severe typhoid from contaminated water
The entrance of Mukumu Girls High School in Kakamega County. Kakamega Senator Boni Khalwale accuses the County Director of Education and the school principal of failing to contain a recent disease outbreak at the institution.
A report on the disease outbreak that has so far killed four people at Mukumu Girls' Secondary School in Kakamega County indicates a case of severe typhoid from water contaminated with salmonella typhi. Results of tests shared by the Ministry of Health Friday also show that the infection that has seen three students and one teacher die this month is a mixture of both salmonella and enterotoxigenic e-coli bacteria.
Enterotoxigenic e-coli is typically transmitted by food or water contaminated with animal or human faeces and causes bacterial diarrheal illness. Salmonella -- the bacteria that causes typhoid fever which can be fatal if not treated effectively -- is also spread through contaminated food, water or close contact.
