The Nakuru County Department of Health has dismissed claims of a Swine flu Outbreak in the area.
According to the Public Health Services – Acting Chief Officer, Dr. Daniel Wainaina, what was detected was a seasonal influenza and not Swine flu as reported by media outlets on Tuesday.
He associated the virus which causes the common cold with the just-ended cold season experienced in the country.
He further noted that the HINI subtype can also cause infections in animals including pigs (swine flu) but the variant is not what was detected.
“The variant detected in Nakuru is not the one that causes influenza in animals. The Nakuru County Department of Health therefore wishes to clarify that no swine-flu cases have been detected in the county as reported by some sections of the media,” wrote Dr. Wainaina said in a statement.
He added that the County Department of Health has collected and sent additional samples to the laboratory awaiting results.
Dr. Wainaina added that Influenza is a highly infectious respiratory tract infection which is commonly responsible for the upper respiratory tract infection but occasionally causes severe lower respiratory disease particularly among very young children, the elderly, pregnant woman and persons with underlying medical conditions.
The virus is transmitted through cough droplets and contact with contaminated surfaces. Common symptoms are cough, sore throat, running nose, headache, chills and fatigue.