A cholera epidemic has broken out in South Sudan, a country beset by civil war and famine. Over 1,000 cases have been diagnosed in one month.
In South Sudan, the situation is more worrying than ever. To the famine which threatens a third of the inhabitants, and to the bloody conflicts raging in this new African state, is added a deadly cholera epidemic.
At least 39 people have died out of a total of 1,212 cases diagnosed, warns the WHO, which specifies that the epidemic is moving from the capital, Juba, to the neighboring state of Jonglei, particularly affected by the civil war. The epidemic was officially declared on June 23 by the Ministry of Health. The first case, however, was recorded in a United Nations camp in Juba on May 18. These structures, installed across the country, serve as refuge for more than 166,000 South Sudanese fleeing the fighting.
“The inhabitants drink the water from the Nile”
For the moment, the overwhelming majority of cases are concentrated around Juba, but one death has been recorded in Bor, the capital of Jonglei State, a city now under government control but completely in ruins after changing. on several occasions during the war.
Efforts to curb cholera are hampered by rampant inflation and the “bad economic situation”, said the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (Ocha), quoted by AFP. “A lot of people cannot even buy drinking water,” says Ocha, who adds that many residents drink water from the Nile directly.
Cholera is an acute diarrheal infection caused by ingestion of food or water contaminated with a microorganism, cholera vibrio, which can be fatal within hours if left untreated. It spreads easily, especially in areas lacking basic infrastructure – clean water, toilets, sanitation – such as slums or refugee camps, which are often overcrowded.
The fight against this epidemic is all the more urgent as 2 million people have been driven from their homes due to the civil war. A vaccination campaign has been launched by WHO in camps across the country.
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