[Cholera++ epidemic in Kenya]

A cholera epidemic in 1997 followed on the heels of the 1992 epidemic that claimed thousands of victims in Kenya. This time, it emerged in the Migori district near the Tanzanian border, when a woman who had married in Tanzania brought her five-month-old baby to visit her parents. The infant, who contracted serious diarrhea and vomiting, died before the mother could reach a dispensary. During the funeral, a perfect opportunity for the disease to spread, those attending observed the traditional ritual of touching the corpse, and then ate and drank with the next of kin. Many developed symptoms of cholera, and several died in the next few days, even before first aid could be administered. At the Public Health Laboratory in Nairobi, analyses confirmed the presence of the Ogawa strain of Vibrio cholerae. Given the global reputation of Médecins Sans Frontières [Doctors Without Borders] in the field of cholera, the head of public health for Homa Bay District issued a call for help in August 1997, asking the team to provide preventive solutions and assess the gravity of the situation. Despite intense logistical, technical and health initiatives, the epidemic spread like wildfire. Five months after the initial outbreak, in February 1998, two Canadian nurses working for MSF in Homa Bay hurriedly surveyed the situation in Nyanza Province, which has a population of three million. The author accompanied one of these nurses, Joceline Roy, a Quebecer in her forties, on a tour that lasted more than 15 hours. Roy worked conscientiously, with great precision and energy. This narrative conveys much more than the fatigue and hazards of travel in the developing world; it tells the story of an important, but little publicized, aspect of nursing.