Rift Valley Fever Scare Hits Nairobi

Nyama choma city is in trouble, big trouble. Beef-loving Kenyans have suddenly stopped consuming meat. In a city where meat and especially beef is consumed with much abandon and in huge quantities, the butchers are suddenly very idle.

Following an outbreak of the dreaded rift valley fever, which has claimed humans and livestock since late last year. This fever has spread steadily across the country touching most provinces and claiming over 50 lives countrywide so far.

Still the matter was just another news item in the press until recently when reports indicated that the dreaded flu was in the outskirts of the city. Cases were positively identified in the Maragua area. It now became clear to all that it was only a matter of time before it found its' way into the heart of the city thus threatening the over 3 million Nairobi population. Nairobi's Kenyatta National Hospital reported it's first death from the disease last week, although it was a case that had been referred there from another district.

Initial reports confirmed that the disease had claimed one person in Kirinyaga before spreading to Maragua and later Kajiado district. All these districts are dangerously close to the city in the sun. Most of the meat consumed in Nairobi comes from the Kajiado area which must be the main reason for the panic now gripping the city.

Chicken and vegetable traders are experiencing booming business as majority of Nairobians opt for the two options.

The usually busy Dagoretti livestock slaughtering facility in the outskirts of Nairobi has now become almost a ghost town as beef traders have taken a break from the business until the scare ends. Initially, 100 bulls were being slaughtered daily but now they are struggling to do 50.

Butcheries in Nairobi have been affected badly with many opting to temporarily shut down until the deadly disease is arrested by the concerned authorities.

Adding insult to injury, the disease has chosen a bad time to rear its ugly head as it is only a few months ago that the government revived the Kenya meat commission that was soon to realize its goal of slaughtering 1,000 bulls per day for both local and foreign consumption.

Assurances by the government through its spokesman Dr Alfred Mutua that the fever is under control and has not yet hit Nairobi seems to have fallen on deaf years as the spokesman has a reputation for denying the obvious so as to perpetually paint his masters in good light. A case in point is that a press conference had earlier been planned at Kenyatta National Hospital with medical experts, but was cancelled at the eleventh hour as Mutua addressed the press instead. The idea here seems to have been to prevent panic from spreading in the city. If only the government knew the sort of confidence Kenyans have in official government statements these days. It would have been much more reassuring to give the facts through medical experts.


Crazy Theory: It is still a mystery as to how this deadly Rift Valley Fever entered the country. One source, who is not an expert, tells this writer that it could easily have come in from Somalia. And the fact that that country is a target of US attention because of being a haven for terrorists, could mean that the virus could easily have be man-made and introduced to destroy a major potential source of revenue to finance terrorist activities. No government on earth can ever admit to such a thing, but it is a well known fact that deadly viruses are these days stored and even manufactured in labs. Somehow this crazy theory does not sound too far-fetched and is well worth investigating. Over to you, viral experts.

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