Five primary school pupils of Kotido mixed school in Kotido district were on Wednesday diagnosed with cholera and admitted at Kanawat Health center according to the school head teacher Ms Margaret Lamwaka.
“About 15 pupils did not leave their beds on Wednesday morning and as teachers on duty were checking the dormitories, they found that four boys and one girl were totally weak. The district health officer Dr. Phillip Olinga then intervened and the pupils were rushed to Kanawat health center from where tests confirmed the cholera germs.” Ms Lamwaka explained.
The head teacher said the school has been partially closed following advice from the health team.
“The health team has already disinfected the 507 pupils who stay in the boarding section meanwhile the day’s session has been closed for now to enable easy control of the condition” Ms Lamwaka said.
Dr. Phillip Olinga the CUAM Kotido district technical officer said the situation is under control but advised that teachers and parents should control the movements of children in the school to avoid more spread.
“What is important for now is to let the day pupils stay back at home with parents keeping the watch so that the boarding section can be monitored by the health team” he said.
On the likely cause of the outbreak, Mr. Olinga said “it is a possible hygiene problem because the cholera germ thrives mainly in dirty environment”
He added that Kotido had achieved certain level of health facility with most NGOs running sanitation projects in the district. He said the pit latrine coverage in the district had gone up from o.5% to2.7% with all schools having pit latrines.
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