Eighteen people have died in Kenya following a cholera outbreak that has spread across seven counties during the ongoing rainy season.

Health Cabinet Secretary Adan Duale and Director General of Health Dr Patrick Amoth said the national government is working with counties to contain the spread of the disease. The affected counties are Nairobi, Mombasa, Kisumu, Migori, Homa Bay, Kwale and Turkana.

"I want to confirm that we have been having cholera cases in a number of counties including Nairobi, Mombasa, Kisumu, Migori, Homa Bay, Kwale and Turkana," said Duale during an interview in Mombasa.

The Health Cabinet Secretary said contingency measures have been put in place to limit the spread of the disease, adding that surveillance teams and public health officers are on high alert.

Dr Amoth confirmed that infection prevention control measures have been deployed in the affected counties and that supplies have been provided to support outbreak control.

In Mombasa, four people have died from cholera, with most cases reported in Kibarani slums. Kisumu has recorded the highest number of deaths at seven, followed by Mombasa (4), Kwale (3), Nairobi (2), Migori (1), and Turkana (1).

According to Ministry of Health data released on June 17, a total of 379 cases have been recorded. Forty new cases were reported since the last update, but no deaths were recorded in the past 24 hours.

Of the 18 deaths, 13 are male while five are female. Overall, 52 per cent of those affected are male and 48 per cent are female.

The reported cases per county are: Kisumu (99), Nairobi (69), Turkana (89), Migori (53), Kwale (48), and Mombasa (21). The first case was reported on February 12 in Kuria East, Migori County.

Areas with the highest attack rates are Nyando in Kisumu (34.9 per 100,000 people), Kuria East in Migori (19.5), and Lunga Lunga in Kwale (18.1).

Duale said the Kenya National Public Health Institute, counties and development partners are supporting outbreak response in the affected areas.

"We have deployed County and National Rapid Response Teams (RRTs) for active case search, treatment, and contact tracing in all affected counties. Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH) and distributed Aqua tabs and chlorine for household water treatment," said the Director General.

Other key interventions include super-chlorination of communal water sources in Kisumu and Nairobi, household disinfection and hygiene promotion in Kwale.