Suspected Cholera cases rise in Jonglei state

February 20, 2017 (BOR) – Suspected Cholera cases have continued to rise in South Sudan’s Jonglei state, while spreading widely across communities living along the River Nile, health officials said Monday.

“The situation is alarming in the state because it just happened in all the corners of Jonglei state, in main land and the islands, we received patients on daily basis, and we have heard some more cases in the islands,” said the director of public health at the state ministry of health, Deng Mayen.

“We have 79 patients who were admitted and discharged, from Bor and there were there were 19 death cases recorded both in the facility and in the islands”, he added.

Cholera is an acute diarrhoeal infection caused by ingestion of food or water contaminated with the bacterium Vibrio cholerae. It remains a global threat to public health and an indicator of inequity and lack of social development.

Mayen said the ministry with support from the U.N Children fund (UNICEF) conducted awareness trainings in Bor on Saturday.

“We are still waiting for the result from the central lab in Juba, when we receive the results, this is where we can make a declaration that there is cholera outbreak. For now, we still say these are suspected Cholera cases”, he added.

UNICEF’s communication for development officer, Jacob Mathiang said the agency will support the fight against cholera.

“We are doing our best to make sure that we raise awareness in the communities, using the communities intervention channels, giving them messages, talking to communities through churches and mosques and many other community social gathering to make sure that our people get the correct message and adopt positive behaviors to protect themselves against cholera”, he stressed.

(ST)