Kenya’s Health Director-General, Patrick Amoth, has sought to allay fears about the emergence of a new strain of “super gonorrhoea” in the country.
Speaking on January 17, Amoth confirmed that research by the Kenya Medical Research Institute (KEMRI) had identified a new variant of the Neisseria gonorrhoea bacterium that had shown resistance to several antibiotics.
However, he emphasised that the “super” label did not refer to the prevalence of the disease. He said that only 0.0025% of the people tested hosted the pathogen.
Amoth did not comment on theories linking the disease to Covid-19 vaccines. He did confirm that cases of the new strain had also been reported in other countries, including the United Kingdom.