Kenya is facing a severe outbreak of kala-azar, or visceral leishmaniasis, a neglected tropical disease with a 95% fatality rate if untreated. Cases more than doubled from 1,575 in 2024 to 3,577 in 2025, spreading to new regions and threatening millions. The disease is transmitted by sandflies, whose populations are expanding due to climate change. Prolonged droughts followed by rainfall create ideal breeding conditions, experts say.
Diagnostic and treatment gaps are worsening the crisis. Only three treatment centers operate in Kenya, leading to frequent misdiagnoses with deadly consequences. Harada Hussein Abdirahman, 60, spent a year misdiagnosed while herding livestock in Mandera County. “I thought I was dying,” she told media, highlighting the human toll.
Treatment is demanding and expensive: patients face 30 days of daily injections and transfusions costing around $775—far beyond the reach of most residents in arid, affected regions. Researchers warn that without rapid expansion of diagnostic facilities and access to care, the outbreak could escalate further.
