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.