A man identified as Joseph Odhiambo Ogweno escaped from an isolation ward in the Homa Bay County Referral Hospital on Thursday, March 12.
Police officers in the area have launched a concerted search for Ogweno who was an inmate at the Homa Bay GK Prison.
As report Daily Nation on Sunday, March 15, prior to his disappearance, Ogweno was receiving treatment from an isolation ward after being diagnosed with tuberculosis (TB).
Ogweno began displaying signs of the illness while he was in remand. According to the officer in charge of the prison, Beverline Lungatso, medics had advised that Ogweno remain at the facility for 18 months.
"He had to be taken to the hospital for check-up [and] doctors advised that he should stay at the health facility for a period of up to 18 months," stated Lungatso.
Ogweno had subsequently been transferred from the Homa Bay GK Prison to an isolation room at the county referral hospital.
The officers responsible for guarding him were forced to stay outside his ward owing to the contagious nature of the disease. This may have provided Ogweno with the opportunity to escape.
"The suspect stayed in the hospital for about four months before he escaped. He might have taken advantage of being alone in the isolation room to escape. Officers guarded him from outside the room and only realised that he was missing after some time had passed," clarified Lungatso.
Ogweno had been arrested in 2019 on the charges of defiling a minor in Kakrungu village in Mbita Sub-County. He was subsequently remanded at the Homa Bay Prison on November 29, 2019 after he was unable to raise the required bond.
Tuberculosis is caused by the bacteria (Mycobacterium tuberculosis) and mostly affects the lungs. According to the World Health Organisation, over 95% of cases and deaths from TB are in developing countries.
The symptoms of the disease include a cough, fever, night sweats or weight loss. Those suffering from the disease can affect 5-15 other people they are in close contact with over the course of a year.
TB is usually treated with a standard 6-month course of antimicrobial drugs.
