Writes Leo Odera Omolo.
Newspaper reports emerging from the Kenya’s Eastern Province says that a man has died while nine others were admitted to the Embu Level Five hospital for medical treatment after the residents of Embu, Muranga and Machakos counties feasted on the carcass of a dead hippo suspected to have died of anthrax.
The body of the dead man was taken to Embu Hospital for post-Morten examination. The police boss in the region Kyford Kibaara confirmed the incident and said they were actively investigating the matter. The deceased hails from Karuku village in Mbeere Soutth within Embu County.
The police said the dead bull of hippo was found washed on the bank of Sagana River at the boundaries of Embu, Muranga and Machakos Counts and the residents scrambled for its meat which they shared. The police said they suspected the dead hippo had anthrax which might have cause its death.
The local administration has since organized for mass vaccination within the region, which started this morning at Makutano Trading Center for all the people who had ate the hippo’s meat. The police explained that the residents gave them very contradictory statements on accounts of what had happened. Most of them are suspicious and fearing prosecution if suspected of having killed the animals .Investigations are still in progress to established if the animal was killed by the residents or it was found dead by the river bank. However, the police issued a stern warning to the residents against feasting on the carcasses of dead animals whose causes of its death are unknown to them.
Some of the residents told the police that two bulls of hippo were seen fighting and one of the emerged with serious bodily injuries and died. It was after this when they moved in, skinned the animal, and scrambled for its meat which they shared with their neighbors..
THE medical Superintenant at the Embu Level Five hospital Dr gerald Nderitu was quoted by the local media as saying that the nine who were admitted at the institution for treatment were responding well and some of them would be discharged to go home within the next three or four days.
ENDS