South Sudan: South Sudan Capital Faces Worsening Cholera Outbreak

Juba — Health officials are warning that a cholera outbreak in South Sudan's capital, Juba, which has left 23 people dead and forced more than 670 others to seek treatment, could be getting worse. Laboratory tests have confirmed that at least one person living in a Juba displacement camp has contracted cholera and there are fears the disease could spread rapidly within the crowded site.

Officials are setting up new treatment centres across the city and treating the water sources they believe are responsible for spreading the disease, but said they anticipate at least 1,000 more people might need to be hospitalized before the outbreak ends. And that is only if cholera does not spread to other areas of the country.

Health Minister Riek Gai Kok officially announced the cholera outbreak nearly two weeks ago - the first in South Sudan since 2009 - and pledged "as the government, as a country [we] will support any efforts made to contain this disease."

The outbreak was not unexpected. The World Health Organization's (WHO) Abdinasir Abubakar said the ministry and health partners had already started preparing for the appearance of cholera and other communicable diseases "because of the context. Because we had a lot of population movement and that population movement always brings some health problems."

Five and a half months of fighting in South Sudan has forced more than a million people to flee their homes - and the situation continues to deteriorate. Despite a renewed cessation of hostilities agreement signed nearly three weeks ago by President Salva Kiir and opposition leader Riek Machar, fighting has continued. The UN reports an additional 70,000 people have been displaced since then, some into areas without clean water or enough latrines.

When the outbreak was announced, UN agencies and partners began focusing on some of the most serious water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) concerns - both in the displaced populations and among long-term Juba residents.

Much of the water people use for drinking and cooking is collected from the Nile and delivered by tanker truck. UNICEF's WASH chief Lillian Ukwiri said they are trying to track down every truck and make sure each shipment is chlorinated, something which should kill cholera bacteria.

They have also put out radio advertisements instructing people to boil water for at least 10 minutes before drinking it or cooking with it, and to wash their hands regularly. The messages also encourage people to report to a health centre as soon as they show any symptoms, including watery diarrhoea or vomiting, because the disease can kill swiftly.