JUBA-The Protection of Civilians (PoC) site in Juba, capital city of South Sudan is on high alert following confirmation of 1,342 cases of cholera, said a health official.
Juba PoC hosts currently over 33,000 persons displaced by the 2013 violence which erupted in Juba on 15th December 2013.
Najwa Juma Marshal, Central Equatoria State Health Minister, said 1,342 cholera cases have been confirmed in Juba PoC since the outbreak began on 6th December.
“Since the declaration of cholera in the Gorom refugees’ camp, till 15th December, the accumulated cases are 1,833 people infected,” Juma told Sudans Post on Wednesday.
Juma said the cases are on the rise due to unregulated movement of IDPs and poor sanitation, hygiene, and lack of water at the camp.
She said they have launched the cholera vaccination campaign in the protection of civilian sites to help reduce the cases in the camp.
The minister added that over 50,000 doses of cholera vaccines have been supplied to the camp with support from the World Health Organization and Médecins Sans Frontières to contain the situation.
“Poor sanitation, water, and hygiene situations in the camp are some of the reasons behind the rapid spread of cholera in the protection of civilian sites,” she said.
For his part, Dr. James Wani, Director General for the Ministry of Health, disclosed that the endemic has claimed the lives of 20 people with 1,800 cases in the state since the outbreak on 6th December 2024.
“We took measures through the reactivation of the state task force and reactivation pillars to enhance case management of the cases,” said Wani.
In October this year, the National Ministry of Health declared a cholera outbreak in Renk, Upper Nile State.
This declaration came following reports of 44 suspected cholera cases and six laboratory-confirmed cases on 23 October 2024 in Renk, Upper Nile State.
Cholera has over 60 people with 6,000 cases since the outbreak in late October 2024.
