Director General for Health Patrick Amoth made the revelation in In a statement on Friday.
“The Ministry wishes to inform the general public that this disease is likely to be a mixture of E. coli and Salmonella typhi which usually occurs if water sources are contaminated with these micro-organisms,” he said.
Escherichia coli (E. coli) is a bacteria commonly found in the lower intestine of warm-blooded organisms that can cause food poisoning.
Salmonella enterica typhi is a gram-negative bacterium that is responsible for typhoid fever.
Amoth added that further laboratory investigations carried out on the grains and pulses for aflatoxin turned negative for aflatoxicosis.
“Laboratory tests for Viral Hemorrhagic Fevers (VHFs) including Ebola Virus Disease (EVD), Marburg Virus Disease (MVD), Leptospirosis and Crimean- Congo Hemorrhagic Fever (CCHF), Dengue Fever, Rift Valley Fever (RVF) and West Nile Virus have all turned negative,” he said.
“The Ministry is conducting further analysis on these samples to ascertain any other potential cause of this illness, and will communicate the finding of these tests.”
Amoth added that the disease presents fever, abdominal pain/cramps, vomiting and diarrhoea.
He said comprehensive investigations are currently underway but data analysed so far indicated that the disease seems to have started on March 1, 2023.
