A child receives oral cholera vaccine in South Sudan. Photo: Ella Glass, Courtesy of Medair (2017)

The World Health Organization has warned, the cholera outbreak in Unity State could spill over to other hot spot areas across the country.

The alarm was raised after the Ministry of Health and WHO reported 19 more positive cases of the waterborne disease in Rubkona County’s crowded IDPs camps.

The cases sum up to a record 233 since the outbreak was declared in the makeshift camps in April this year.

However, the health authorities confirmed all the patients have been discharged, except one death as of June 26.

The Situation Report raised fears the cholera epidemics in the northern part of the country could spill over to other flood affected areas.

“The current transmission remains sporadic, but the risk of transmission to at-risk counties is very high due to population movements, presence of IDPs, persistent flooding, low access to safe water and sanitation.

According to the agency, a protracted outbreak is imminent in other flood affected areas due to inaccessibility to clean water and poor hygiene.

“South Sudan remains at risk for potential cholera outbreaks due to limited access to safe water and poor sanitation, the presence of displaced populations, floods, and repeated cycles of sub-national violence,” reads part of the report.

The country has so far experienced ten major cholera outbreaks in the last three decades according to the WHO data.

The epidemics varied in magnitude and occurred mostly in major urban areas, along water bodies like the River Nile, in internally displaced camps, and in cattle camps.

Others are flood affected locations, and other locations with inadequate access to safe water and improved sanitation facilities.

According to WHO, the main risk factors include inadequate access to clean and safe water, inadequate sanitation facilities, and high level of contaminated surface water following flooding.

Last month, the government launched cholera vaccination drive in Central Equatoria State, which is one of the 20 designated hot spot area.