An alarm has been raised over the spread of a Sexually Transmitted Infection (STI) in Migori County which has been nicknamed 'Jakadala'.
The STI can kill within a week if not treated, according to medical practitioners.
Treatment
Migori County released officers to the ground an alarm was raised with reports indicating that at least five people were being treated for the infection in different health facilities.
playTest tubes filled with blood samples (Twitter)
Health CEC Iscar Oluoch said that reports of the possible outbreak came from one of the new gold mines.
The reports intensified after a patient was admitted at the Migori County Referral Hospital, the Health CEC stated.
She said the county is on alert with plans underway to have the national government and other partners offer help if the fears are confirmed.
STIs
There are a number of sexually transmitted infections (STI) caused by bacteria and viruses.
Medics say that the bacterial infections are usually successfully treated with antibiotics whereas viral infections can be more challenging to treat.
playAn illustration of STIs vs STDs (Twitter)
Documents prepared in 2018 by government agencies leading the fight against HIV/AIDS indicated that Migori was the fourth county with the highest number of adults infected with HIV in the country.
There are 1,493,382 Kenyans living with HIV. This is according to the latest 2018 HIV estimates.