How camel meat sparked a deadly virus outbreak in Marsabit

Towards the end of December last year, a sickly camel lay dying in a remote corner of Marsabit County.

Shurr – a village with an estimated population of 2,500 – is home to the Gabra; a pastoralist community whose lives revolve around livestock. It is semi-arid and typical of the African Savannah.

Livestock are a valuable source of meat and milk for residents here. Important occasions, like weddings, are marked by the slaughtering of animals.

Not only for its size, the camel has a near-mythical status in the community.

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“It is the ultimate symbol of our existence,” says Dereso Guyo, a resident.

Before the sick camel could give in to the inevitable grip of death, it was put through slaughter. The meat was shared among neighbours.

“We love and value camels so much that it would be taboo to throw away its meat or milk,” Dereso explains.

On January 9, a patient – identified as a woman from Shurr, was admitted to Marsabit County Referral Hospital (MCRH), battling an unknown disease. She would later test positive for Rift Valley Fever (RVF).

On February 5,  Health CEC, Grace Galmo, confirmed this.

“Some 43 samples were sent to Nairobi for testing. Four tested positive for RVF,” she said.

According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), RVF is a viral disease that primarily affects animals but can infect humans.

“The virus was first discovered in 1931 on a sheep farm in Naivasha – in Kenya’s Rift Valley region, hence the name.

The road to Shurr from Marsabit is bumpy and paved with huge rocks. After around two hours, we make it to Shurr – an expansive village with a flat topography.

Its many manyattas make the village look like an ancient kingdom.

Isako Warguto, Shurr’s Administrative Chief, welcomes us.

“The RVF patient who first tested positive is from here,” he says.

That patient was Dereso Guyo, according to the man the chief assigned us as the guide.

“I am among neighbours who went to slaughter the sick camel. Camel is valuable meat. We don’t throw camel meat away,” says Dereso through a translator.

She got her portion, went home, and prepared a meal for her family.

We can’t tell – for sure – if she was patient zero but the chief’s man reiterates that she is the one.

“I started feeling unwell a few days after slaughtering of the camel. It started like a flu. Then severe stomachache set in. My stomach swelled. I lost my appetite.”

Shurr has a government-run dispensary. But Dereso was feeling “very sick” to ‘waste time’ going to the dispensary as it lacks basic services.

She hopped onto the next public service vehicle to Marsabit town.

“At the first hospital I went to, they took blood samples and did tests. However, they were not finding anything.

“Which was confusing because I was in pain and I was weak. I was vomiting. With every passing minute, I felt life ebbing away.

“I was then moved to MCRH where they collected the blood samples,” she says.

After a week, the results came back. She was told she was suffering from RVF. “I was told I was lucky; that I went to hospital in the nick of time.”

Officially, there were no deaths linked to the  RVF outbreak.

However, from interviews with locals, there is reason for concern.

Roba Guyo, an ex-administrative chief of Shurr, said he knew of two women who died around the time of the outbreak.

“They had fever, headaches, they were in pain, and were vomiting,” Roba says.

One of the women was Mohammed Qampura’s wife. “She died between January 10 and 15, 2024 – I don’t remember the exact date,” Qampura says. 

“Her blood sample had been taken to Nairobi for testing. She died before the results could come back,” Qampura says.

“Sometimes it overwhelms me mentally because I still live in that house which I should be sharing with her,” he says.

For months, we reached out to CEC Galmo to add more context on the extent of the epidemic but, she did not respond to our questions.

According to WHO, RVF in human beings can take one or two forms: mild or severe.

The mild form starts with flu-like symptoms and fever. Some patients experience muscle pain and headaches. Loss of appetite and vomiting are other common symptoms.

These symptoms usually last about a week, by which time the immune system would have produced enough antibodies to fight off the virus.

If RVF progresses from mild to severe, symptoms could progress to intense headaches, loss of memory, hallucinations, confusion, and disorientation. Sometimes patients develop convulsions and could go into a coma.

The hemorrhagic form usually presents as vomiting of blood or passing blood in the stool. A patient could also start bleeding from the nose or gums.

The hemorrhagic form of RVF is the deadliest. Could this be what claimed Qampura’s wife?

Talaso Adano is Dereso Guyo’s neighbour. She took home a piece of meat – from the sick camel.

She says, “I fell sick two days after Dereso went to Marsabit to seek medical care. I had a fever. And I was vomiting a lot.”

Unlike Dereso, Talaso did not go to Marsabit. She received some injections and painkillers at Shurr dispensary and felt better after a week.

“Majority of human RVF cases, about 80 per cent, are usually mild... Patients can fight the virus without really needing medical attention.

“The remaining few will develop the severe form and could potentially suffer death as a result of the infection,” says Dr Silvia Situma, RVF Project Co-coordinator. 

Humans get infected with the RVF virus when they come into direct contact with tissues or biological fluids from an infected animal

In Dereso Guyo’s case, Dr Situma postulates, she was most likely infected while handling fresh – bloodied – meat from the dead camel.

Before the infection spreads to human beings, RVF would already be wreaking havoc among animals, adds Dr Muturi.

The virus infects ruminants like cattle, sheep, and goats. Wild ruminants like buffaloes and antelopes are equally susceptible.

Experts say animals get RVF primarily through mosquito (mostly Aedes and Culex species) bites. Theoretically, other blood-feeding insects could spread the virus.

The most accepted theory is that the virus in the adult female mosquito infects eggs (transovarial transmission).

Once laid the already-infected eggs stay dormant in the soil for up to 10 years waiting for an opportune time to hatch into an already infected mosquito – which would perpetuate the next round of infections.

“Recent studies are however showing us that there is a possibility that the natural reservoir of the virus is animals and humans.

“Evidence indicates that the virus circulates at low levels in both human and animal populations, often remaining undetected due to the absence of clinical disease,” says Dr Situma.

In Kenya, the deadliest RVF outbreak to have been recorded in the 2006-2007 outbreak. A total of 684 cases and 234 deaths were confirmed.

Deadlier outbreaks have been recorded in other parts of the world. According to Situma, on average, Kenya gets an outbreak every five to ten years.

Previously, the government responded to the RVF epidemic by halting the slaughtering of livestock and quarantine measures. This year, the government responded by conducting targeted livestock vaccination and controlling mosquito populations.

This story was produced with the support of the Earth Journalism Network