Prison facilities countrywide have been put on a high alert following a cholera outbreak at the Kamiti Maximum Prison that left nine inmates dead.

Prisons commissioner Isaiah Osugo is now calling on officers in charge of correctional facilities countrywide to work closely with public health officers to ensure that any suspected cases are quickly handled.

Speaking to Kenya Broadcasting Corporation on phone, Osugo said the situation at Kamiti has been contained and that one inmate had already been discharged from Kenyatta National Hospital.

On Monday, Vice President Kalonzo Musyoka visited the institution where he announced that the government would put up a district hospital at the maximum prison to cater for the high number of inmates.

Meanwhile, Turkana Central MP Ekwee Ethuro is calling on the government to declare the countrywide cholera outbreak a national disaster.

The MP says such declaration will ensure that the government gets the necessary help from donors to deal with the menace.

Ethuro in a telephone interview urged the government to move fast and curbe further lose to lives arising from the cholera outbreak.

He called on the Ministries of Medical Services and that of Public Health to move to the flash-point areas and help to curb the spread and suffering of those infected with the cholera bacteria.

The MP said almost 50 people in Turkana district have died following the outbreak of the water-borne disease.

While releasing the seasonal forecast for the short rains season last August, the Kenya

Meteorological Department warned of the imminent outbreak of water-borne and vector borne diseases arising from the heavy rainfall.

The Met Department urged the government to put in place measures to deal with the challenges arising from heavy rainfall that follows prolonged drought such as the one experienced in the country the last three years.