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Updated: May 7, 2026

Laboratory Techniques Used to Maintain and Differentiate Biotypes of Vibrio cholerae Clinical and Environmental Isolates
Published on: May 30, 2017
A national cholera epidemic with high case fatality rates--Kenya 2009
Anagha Loharikar1, Elizabeth Briere, Maurice Ope
1Epidemic Intelligence Service, Office of Workforce and Career Development.
Background:
Cholera remains endemic in sub-Saharan Africa. We characterized the 2009 cholera outbreaks in Kenya and evaluated the response.
Methods:
We analyzed surveillance data and estimated case fatality rates (CFRs). Households in 2 districts, East Pokot (224 cases; CFR = 11.7%) and Turkana South (1493 cases; CFR = 1.0%), were surveyed. We randomly selected 15 villages and 8 households per village in each district. Healthcare workers at 27 health facilities (HFs) were surveyed in both districts.
Results:
In 2009, cholera outbreaks caused a reported 11 425 cases and 264 deaths in Kenya. Data were available from 44 districts for 6893 (60%) cases. District CFRs ranged from 0% to 14.3%. Surveyed household respondents (n = 240) were aware of cholera (97.5%) and oral rehydration solution (ORS) (87.9%). Cholera deaths were reported more frequently from East Pokot (n = 120) than Turkana South (n = 120) households (20.7% vs. 12.3%). The average travel time to a HF was 31 hours in East Pokot compared with 2 hours in Turkana South. Fewer respondents in East Pokot (9.8%) than in Turkana South (33.9%) stated that ORS was available in their village. ORS or intravenous fluid shortages occurred in 20 (76.9%) surveyed HFs.
Conclusions:
High CFRs in Kenya are related to healthcare access disparities, including availability of rehydration supplies.
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