Cholera outbreak kills 18 in South Sudan

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The South Sudan Ministry of Health said on Tuesday that no fewer than 18 people have died of Cholera in the country’s Central Equatorial State.

South Sudanese Health Minister, Riek Gai Kok, said that over 171 cholera cases have been confirmed, declaring an outbreak of the highly contagious infection.

The first cholera case was reported at a UN Protection of Civilians (POC) base in early June, he said.

Cholera treatment centers have been established at Juba Hospital and the International Medical Corps clinic at the POC to manage suspected and confirmed cholera cases, he pointed out.

The disease outbreak adds to the suffering of the South Sudanese people who are already facing tough humanitarian conditions caused by the escalating violence in the newly-established state.

South Sudan plunged into violence in December 2013 when fighting erupted between troops loyal to President Salva Kiir and defectors led by his former deputy Riek Machar.

The conflict soon turned into an all-out war with the violence taking on an ethnic dimension that pitted the president’s Dinka tribe against Machar’s Nuer ethnic group.

The clashes have left thousands of South Sudanese dead and forced around 1.9 million people to flee their homes.