S. Sudan cholera outbreak reaches third major town

Mar 8, 2006 (KHARTOUM) — An outbreak of cholera in Sudan’s south has spread to a third major town and has claimed at least 132 lives in the war-torn area with little clean water or sanitation, aid agencies said on Wednesday.

Medecins Sans Frontieres said 12 people had tested positive for cholera in the town of Malakal, hundreds of miles north of the origin of the outbreak.

Almost 6,000 cases have been recorded in the southern capital Juba and the nearby town of Yei, the World Health Organisation (WHO) said, adding the outbreak had also spread to surrounding towns.

“There were 12 cases confirmed for cholera in Malakal,” MSF medical coordinator Kees Keus told Reuters.

Cholera is a water-borne disease which causes vomiting and acute diarrhoea that can lead to dehydration and death within 24 hours if not treated swiftly.

Two-thirds of south Sudan’s population drinks unsafe water. After a 2005 peace deal which ended Africa’s longest civil war in Sudan’s south, hundreds of thousands of people have been returning home.

“It’s difficult to prevent the spread when there are such large population movements,” Keus said.

(Reuters)