Hepatitis E cases on the rise in Lakes state

September 6, 14 (JUBA) – Cases of Hepatitis E is on the rise in South Sudan’s Lakes state, with about 100 people diagnosed with the disease, the United Nations humanitarian coordination agency (OCHA) said.

Two cases of the disease, OCHA said, were initially recorded in April and 52 in June.

At least four people have died at Lakes state’s Mingkaman internally displaced camp, OCHA said in its latest bulletin..

John Parach, a local administrator, told Sudan Tribune that the disease has affected both the host population and those displaced, forcing them to flee from the area.

He said poor sanitation and regular flooding caused by rainwater that destroyed toilet have accelerated the spread of the viral disease.

“This place is low land, and many of the toilets built in February were not good enough. Most of them went down when heavy rains started, feases went randomly with the water, contaminating people around, this increased the level of infection”, Parach said by phone.

Those affected, he said, are being handled by Medicine San Frontiers (MSF) at its health center in Mingkaman with women and children said to be the most affected.

“There is no cure for this disease, people died due to liver failure. Thank God that nobody has died since July”, said Parach.

(ST)