Stakeholders meeting on Chikungunya elimination, January 16, 2018. [Photo/Mombasa Sub-County Administration]

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Officers from Mombasa County's Department of Health led by Director Shem Pata, Devolution and Public Service Administration CeC Seth Odongo, Sub-county Administration together with partners from Kenya Medical Research Institute (KEMRI) participated in a sensitisation meeting for Chikungunya, a viral disease spread by the Aedes mosquito that bites during the day and late evening. 

The disease has in the recent days affected many residents in the County.

The meeting held on Tuesday aimed at training the administrators on the disease and its aspects so as to enable them to in turn properly empower citizens at the grassroots on how to prevent and manage the illness.

Among the issues discussed was the habits and lifestyle of the mosquito, the status of Chikungunya in Mombasa County, effective techniques which they will use to conduct the sensitisations among other things.

Besides using public Baraza’s, the team resolved to work with community stakeholders to broaden their reach. 

The County government is currently conducting fogging exercises at the wards to kill the mosquitoes as well as their breeding grounds.

Governor Ali Hassan Joho alongside his deputy Dr William Kingi launched the Mombasa County Fogging Programme recently, which constitutes 5 vehicles fitted with modern fogging machines to help fight Chikungunya outbreak in the County.The vehicles would spray all the six sub-counties starting with Changamwe and Mvita which are worst hit by the virus. The 10-day exercise would be conducted during the day and aims at killing the adult mosquitoes (Aedes Aegypti) which are the carriers.

Joho affirmed that the insecticide being sprayed is safe to humans since it is designed to kill mosquitoes and prevent them from breeding further."We kindly urge the residents to cooperate with our teams on the ground, especially in locating mosquito breeding zones," he said.The governor affirmed that the County was working closely with a team from KEMRI who are going round the highly affected areas and studying the mosquitoes spreading the virus.