Cholera has killed one child and infected 30 persons in South Sudan, according to health officials, the first outbreak in nearly five years.
“The Ministry of Health would like to inform the public that the cholera outbreak has been declared in Rubkona county, Unity State,” the ministry said in a statement.
“To date, a total of 31 cases including one death have been reported from Rubkona town and Bentiu IDP camp” and health officials are investigating whether there are any others, it said.
A seven-year-old child was the fatality on March 25. All other sick people have been treated and released from the hospital, according to the report.
The outbreak was triggered by a continuous increase in diarrhoea cases in the impacted districts.
It was the country’s first cholera case since December 2017, when an outbreak that began in June 2016 and killed 436 people came to an end.
Cholera is an acute form of diarrhoea that can be treated with medications and fluids, but if left untreated, can kill within hours.
Recall that in February 2022, in Central Africa, about six convicts at Douala’s New Bell jail died of cholera in February.
At least six of the 10 regions of Cameroon are or have been affected by a cholera epidemic for several months. According to official data, 125 infections were recorded at Douala Central Prison between 21 and 31 March, where the overcrowding rate is said to be at least 300%.
Since October, 105 people have died in Cameroon’s outbreak, according to the country’s health minister. The disease has been detected in six of the country’s ten regions, including the turbulent South-West, where the health system has been severely harmed by the deadly conflict between government forces and armed separatists.