[AFP]For nearly a year, repeated misdiagnoses of the deadly kala-azar disease left 60-year-old Harada Hussein Abdirahman's health deteriorating, as an outbreak in Kenya's arid regions claimed a record number of lives. Cases of kala-azar, also known as visceral leishmaniasis, have spiked in Kenya, from 1,575 in 2024 to 3,577 in 2025, according to the health ministry. But there are "very few facilities in the country able to actively diagnose and treat," kala-azar, Dr Paul Kibati, tropical disease expert for health NGO Amref, told AFP. Northeastern Kenya, as well as neighbouring regions in Ethiopia and Somalia, have experienced a devastating drought in recent months. "Kala-azar affects mostly the poorest in our community," Kibati said, exacerbated by malnutrition and weak immunity.

Source: Standard Digital February 08, 2026 17:34 UTC