A. Situation analysis
Description of the disaster
On 3 February 2015, the Director of Medical Services in Kenya issued a cholera outbreak alert following an increase in cases of Acute Watery Diarrhoea (AWD) in several counties in the country. Epidemiologic investigations conducted by the Ministry of Health’s (MoH) Disease Surveillance and Response Unit (DSRU) and the Field Epidemiology and Laboratory Training Programme (FELTP) in Homa Bay, Migori and Nairobi counties confirmed cholera outbreaks in these counties.
The DSRU indicated that cholera outbreak probably begun before the reported index case. Laboratory confirmation indicated that the bacterium in circulation was Vibrio cholera, ogawa sub type as this was the one found in most of the presenting cases. Homa Bay and Migori counties were among the first areas for cholera outbreak. On 24 February 2015, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies released CHF 109,877 from the Disaster Relief and Emergency Fund (DREF) to support the Kenya Red Cross Society (KRCS) support 319,734 people (53,290 households) affected/at risk by the cholera outbreak in Homa Bay and Migori counties, for a period of three months.
As the situation progressed, more cases began to be reported from other counties in Kenya, specifically Bomet, Mombasa, Nairobi (informal settlements) and Nakuru counties. As of 26 May 2015, 3,459 cases and at least 72 deaths attributed to cholera were reported across Kenya (MoH), with poor sanitation, especially in the informal settlements being the major contributing cause. On 2 June 2015, an Operations Update was issued to extend the DREF operation by two months, and an additional DREF allocation of CHF 75,317 (total allocation: CHF 185,194) released to expand the activities planned, specifically in the area of social mobilization and sensitization activities related to cholera prevention, control and hygiene promotion in Mombasa, Nairobi and Nakuru counties. An additional 176,665 beneficiaries (72,132 households) in Mombasa, Nairobi and Nakuru counties were to be reached.
The DREF was replenished by the DG ECHO and Tsunami Residual Funding. The major donors and partners of the DREF included the Red Cross Societies and governments of Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg, Monaco, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden and the USA, as well as DG ECHO, the UK Department for International Development (DFID) the Medtronic and Zurich Foundations and other corporate and private donors. The IFRC, on behalf of the Kenya Red Cross Society would like to extend its thanks to all partners for their generous contributions.