Health officials in Jinja City have confirmed an outbreak of bilharzia on Kisima I and Kisima II islands in the Southern Division, Jinja City. The islands are located at the border between Jinja City and Buikwe District, on Lake Victoria.
The confirmation follows investigations by Jinja City’s rapid response team after dozens of residents reported symptoms associated with bilharzia, including fever, headaches, muscle pain, persistent fatigue, and blood in stool.
According to reports from the city health department, a surveillance team was dispatched to the islands last week and collected 50 random samples from residents who attended five community health sensitisation meetings. Laboratory results showed that 30 of the samples tested positive for bilharzia, prompting health authorities to officially declare an outbreak in the area.
Jinja City Health Officer Fredrick Isabirye attributed the outbreak to poor sanitation practices. He said that many residents on the islands reportedly defecate along the shoreline while relying on the same water for domestic use, including bathing, cooking, and washing.
Isabirye warned that bilharzia parasites penetrate the body through the skin, exposing affected individuals to long-term organ damage and other chronic health complications if left untreated. He noted that health educators had previously camped on the islands to sensitise residents on preventive measures against bilharzia, but adherence to the recommended health practices remains low.
“We have also promoted routine deworming through local council leaders and village health teams, but the uptake has not been encouraging,” Isabirye said.
As part of efforts to contain the outbreak, Jinja City health authorities have placed an emergency order for bilharzia treatment drugs from the National Medical Stores through the Ministry of Health. The medicines are expected to arrive early next month.
Isabirye said the city will roll out a mass drug administration campaign and urged residents to cooperate with health workers during the exercise.
“We are going in for mass drug administration as a means of managing bilharzia in Kisima, and our humble request is that all community members embrace the health workers spearheading this campaign because this treatment is meant to help them live disease-free lives,” he said.
Meanwhile, some residents blame the low uptake of treatment on long-standing myths and superstitions within the island communities.
Esther Namuddi, a resident of Kisima, said many people associate severe symptoms of bilharzia, such as swollen stomachs, with witchcraft rather than illness. She explained that some infected individuals seek help from traditional healers instead of visiting health facilities for proper treatment.
Namuddi appealed to health officials to involve traditional leaders and cultural influencers in community sensitisation campaigns to help dispel misconceptions surrounding the disease and encourage treatment uptake.
Another resident, Olga Achieng, said language barriers are also undermining health education efforts on the islands. According to Achieng, most sensitisation materials are prepared in English and Lusoga, yet many residents mainly communicate in Kiswahili and other non-Bantu languages. She proposed that future health messages be translated into Kiswahili to ensure wider understanding among the diverse island population.
Achieng also called for continuous public awareness campaigns through community radio stations, noting that the islands serve as a transit point with people frequently moving in and out of the area. She said sustained sensitisation efforts would be critical in controlling the spread of bilharzia and eventually eliminating the disease from the island communities-URN. Give us feedback on this story through our email: kamwokyatimes@gmail.com
