Suspected meningitis kills 72 people

Bugiri

Health authorities in Bugiri District have dispatched a medical team to investigate a disease that has killed at least 72 people in the last month. Officials took the decision after the disease, suspected to be meningitis, killed half of its victims at Hanna Island on Lake Victoria and Buwongo Village, Buhemba Sub-county on the main land within the last week alone.

The District Health Officer, Isaac Malinga, said the team is expected to report its findings within two days in order to help them plan how to stem the outbreak. He, however, added that the district is ill-equipped to fight the disease on its own.
“The outbreak has caught us unprepared but there is hope that the government will intervene to save the lives of the people once the cause of deaths is established,” he said.

Physical obstacles
The Buhemba Sub-county Secretary for Health, Mr John Mbiro, said 32 people, most of whom are children, have so far died in his area. He blamed the deaths on the geographical location of the affected areas – which are both difficult to reach due to distance from the mainland and bad roads.

The LC1 Chairman of Hamma Island, Mr Amuza Nagheje, said some of the sick have been transported to Lake Victoria and Bondo hospitals in western Kenya to receive treatment. He said all the medical personnel at the only health centre on the island had deserted the facility.