"I think that between the government and the national and international partners, we will be able to contain the disease," said the UN resident coordinator in Kenya, Stephen Jackson, in an interview with Citizen TV quoted by the France-Presse (AFP) news agency. "We have contained cholera in the past, but this is a big concern," added the official, at a time when the World Health Organization (WHO) has already registered 44 cases of cholera in Tana River County, in eastern Kenya, one of the regions most affected by the rains and floods. Cholera is an acute intestinal infection that spreads through contaminated food and water and usually causes severe diarrhea, vomiting and muscle cramps, and can be particularly dangerous for young children. "WHO will continue to support the health emergency response and remain vigilant about disease outbreaks that can easily spread if not quickly contained," said Abdourahmane Diallo, WHO representative in Kenya, in a statement. "We must be agile and ready to respond, under the leadership of the government and with our partners, to provide assistance to the hundreds of thousands of people affected" by the bad weather, adds the statement released on Tuesday. The floods in Kenya have killed 238 people, according to the latest official figures published by local media, and more than 200,000 people have been left homeless. In total, the heavier than usual seasonal rains, aggravated by the El Nino weather phenomenon, have caused the deaths of more than 400 people in East Africa, a region highly vulnerable to climate change. Read Also: Cholera outbreak affects 15,637 people in Mozambique (Portuguese version)