POLIO SURFACES IN KENYA REFUGEE CAMP

C O N F I D E N T I A L NAIROBI 004477 SIPDIS SIPDIS DEPARTMENT FOR AF, INR, PRM STATE PASS AID LONDON, PARIS FOR AFRICA WATCHER E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/15/2026 TAGS: PREF PGOV EAID PREL MOPS ASEC KPAO SO KE SUBJECT: POLIO SURFACES IN KENYA REFUGEE CAMP ¶1. (C) On October 16, Refcoord Addis learned from UNHCR and other sources that a case of polio had been discovered at Dadaab refugee camp. The case, the first in Kenya in twenty years, was originally identified on September 23 by GTZ doctors at the camp. GTZ doctors turned the information over to the Kenyan Medical Research Institute (KEMRI) for confirmation. KEMRI, in turn, forwarded the test results over to the World Health Organization (WHO) in Nairobi, which later passed the information to WHO-Geneva. This convoluted screening and confirmation process meant the results only got back to UN offices in Nairobi on Friday, October 13. A meeting was held the following day with UNHCR, UNICEF, WHO and the Ministry of Health to relay the information and discuss a coordinated response. According to UNHCR, a press release will be issued the afternoon of October 16 by the MOH and UNICEF, which will acknowledge the case but not provide information about the location or the nationality of the infected person. ¶2. (C) The infected person appears to be a young Somali girl, who remains in the hospital in Dadaab's Ifo Camp. According to the GTZ medical director, the child had been with a family of new arrivals that had entered the camp more than a month earlier. UNHCR's Acting Residential Representative Eddie Gedalof has ordered a further review of the girl's medical records as well as the entire family's registration records for the camp. UNHCR will also intensively interview the family and surrounding neighbors to determine if the registration information is accurate. They will also determine whether the family had returned to Somalia recently or had any visitors from Somalia, and whether the family had switched registration cards with anyone or in some other way had falsely portrayed themselves as recent arrivals. A combined UN-MOH team will be flying to Dadaab on October 17 to further investigate the issue. In the meantime, no journalists will be allowed into the hospital to see or photograph the girl. ¶3. (C) Comment: This polio case comes at a very difficult time as the GOK (and local media) are already grumbling about the steady stream of new arrivals fleeing Somalia. There have been reports of Somalis being refused entry and harassed by local police authorities - though this appears to be a local issue and not a government policy. The Ministry of Security has also threatened to move all new arrivals across the country to Kakuma for security reasons. The fact that a Somali refugee is reportedly responsible for the first case of polio in Kenya in twenty years will only add to GOK reticence to assist Somali refugees. In addition, based on this case, the GOK could threaten to prevent entry of asylum seekers from Somalia. End comment RANNEBERGER