Jacaranda, San Valencia hotels shut in cholera crackdown

The Jacaranda and San Valencia Hotels in Nairobi have been shut down indefinitely following a cholera crackdown by government.

The two top hotels are said to have offered catering services at public events where participants were later hospitalised after developing cholera-related symptoms.

Health Cabinet Secretary Cleopa Mailu said the two will not be allowed to operate until their staff and premise are certified to be cholera-free.

'Further notice'

“The San Valencia hotel and Jacaranda hotel in Nairobi will remain shut down indefinitely until further notice since a lot of the cholera-related cases were caused by food outsourced from them,” said Dr Mailu.

He spoke on Wednesday during a tour of Kenyatta National Hospital (KNH) where he donated 20 cholera beds to the facility.

This comes as the cholera death toll across the country rose to four from the two reported on Monday, with the number of confirmed cases in 12 counties, including Nairobi and Garissa, rising to 381 up from 364 in the same period.

A total of 101 patients have been admitted to KNH with cholera-like symptoms since April when the outbreak was first reported, with 67 cases being confirmed.

One strain

On Wednesday, Dr Mailu said the acute diarrhoeal illness being experienced seems to have one strain of cholera.

“The diseases seems to have one strain of cholera so far, though we cannot identify it,” said Dr Mailu.

Dr Mailu was speaking at KNH when he made an impromptu visit to assess the cholera situation at the largest referral facility in the country.