The Red Cross in Kenya has mobilised 1,000 volunteers to help cope with an outbreak of malaria, which has killed nearly 300 people. The outbreak has affected eight districts in the Rift Valley and the west of the country and follows a period of very heavy rains.

The Red Cross says that more than 150,000 people have contracted malaria since June. Young and old alike have been affected, with the death toll standing at 298. Most of those who have died have simply been unable to reach a hospital quickly enough to get treatment. The outbreak follows several weeks of very heavy rains, but quite why it has turned so deadly is not really known.