Mysterious Illness spreads in Kisii county as health officials investigate water sources

As the strange disease enters its third week in Kisii County, a mother and her ailing three-year-old child seek relief from symptoms that include headaches, fatigue, stomach aches, and diarrhea.

Nearby, a young woman writhes in pain, her condition worsening with bloody diarrhea and a dangerously high fever.

These are just a few of the influx of patients overwhelming health facilities, as medics race against time to unravel the cause of the disease.

"We have been moving around, and so far, we have rushed 20 more people to various hospitals," said Kennedy Omari, the County Health Promotion Officer.

Others have been receiving treatment for several days. John Obara, aged 60, says he is beginning to recover after three days of treatment.

"We are pleading with the government not to abandon us and to act swiftly in handling situations like this," said John Obara.

As patients receive treatment, efforts to uncover the cause and origin of the disease have intensified. Officers from the Ministry of Health headquarters in Nairobi have teamed up with their counterparts from Kisii County in a fact-finding mission in one of the affected villages, Amarongo. Their investigation has focused on the local water sources, searching for clues that could unlock the mystery behind the illness.

"We have joined a team from Nairobi to ascertain the situation, and we are also expecting a report from the government chemist tomorrow," said Dr. Richard Onkware, Kisii County's Chief Health Officer.

Residents of the affected villages are calling for the investigations to be expedited.

"I still can't believe it's our water causing this. We keep going to the hospital, but no one knows what is afflicting us," said Eunice Ombasa, a resident of South Mugirango.

"The health department has come here, but what we want most is for the government to speed up the investigations so we can understand what is troubling us," said Robert Masese, a resident of Nyabigege.