Six members of two families from Kapriro village in Kericho County are admitted at Sigowet Sub-county Hospital after consuming suspected contaminated sour milk, locally known as Mursik, on Tuesday night.
Sigowet Sub-county Hospital Medical Superintendent Dr Peter Mugun confirmed the incident saying that out of the six patients, two were children aged 14 and 7 years while the rest were adults.
Dr Mugun said the two children were in critical condition while the four adults were stable.
According to the doctor, the patients consumed the milk which was sold by a common vendor in the area and were rushed to the hospital after complaining of severe diarrhoea and vomiting.
The Medical Superintendent revealed that the doctors at the facility were doing all they could to stabilize the two children.
He noted that already, a team of health officers has been dispatched to the ground to collect the milk samples to be taken to a government chemist for analysis.
However, the hospital public health officer George Kauma said the officers could not go to collect the samples due to the unavailability of vehicles.
Kauma said one of the vehicles, an ambulance, was on standby at the facility while the other one which could have been used was out for other missions in Kericho town.
Dr Mugun has attributed the contamination to poor handling of the milk and other food items which he suspected could have not been properly washed due to lack of water in most parts of the sub-county.
He has thus advised residents to avoid consuming foodstuffs which are not properly cleaned so as to avoid such cases.
