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Success story June 2025
SUCCESS STORY CHOLERA RESPONSE
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Background
Kisumu County was negatively affected by the stop work orders for all USAID funded projects. This included projects on water and sanitation. And there was heavy rainfall and flooding in the region. The Ministry of Health confirmed a cholera outbreak in the region. Cholera is a highly infectious waterborne disease caused by a bacteria known as Vibrio Cholera. The disease is contracted through food or water contaminated with the bacteria. Symptoms include sudden onset of watery diarrhea, vomiting, and severe dehydration. If untreated it can lead to death. Within a short period a total of 97 cases were confirmed with six fatalities. It caused a heavy strain on the health sector who because of funding cuts could no longer rely on support from most of its partners.
Safe Water and AIDS Project (SWAP) in Kenya is active member of the Western Kenya Humanitarian Hub which brings together humanitarian partners to coordinate activities during disease outbreaks and flood response. The Ministry of Health reached out to SWAP for support to mitigate the impact and control the epidemic. Through Donor See crowdfunding the following activities took place.
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Disease Surveillance
SWAP’s water lab and team played a crucial role in the disease surveillance by collecting water samples from suspected contaminated sources for bacteriological analysis. Most of the water sources were contaminated and following sharing the results, the County Government was able to chlorinate the water sources
Water sample collection at contaminated source in the community
Bacteriological water analysis in the water lab
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Social Marketing and Social Behavioral Change Communication
SWAP engaged community health promoters to do door to door social marketing of point of use water treatment to the affected communities. They were educating households on hygiene promotion and how to treat water using social behavioral change communication.
Community health promoter visiting households
Production of Liquid Soap and Sanitizer
At the Water Lab SWAP increased the production of Liquid Soap and Sanitizer for distribution to households, local markets and health facilities. Health facilities would receive also hand washing stations to put up at the isolation wards of the confirmed cholera cases.
Liquid soap production for hand hygiene
Chlorine generation
SWAP team facilitated the installation and training of health workers on the generation of chlorine, to use at health care facilities for infection prevention and control. Chlorine is used for cleaning surfaces, latrines and for disinfecting laundry.
Chlorine generator using water and salt
Cholera Coordination Meetings
Our team attended several cholera response meetings with Ministry of Health and other humanitarian partners for coordination of the cholera response and to agree on priority interventions. During these meetings updates would be shared on new confirmed cases and its epidemiology.
Way forward
All the above interventions through generous donations helped to mitigate the impact and control the cholera epidemic. No new cases have been reported the past week, but we remain on high alert and continue with interventions.