Mpox patient presenting rash symptoms - Courtesy

Central Equatoria has recorded 27 suspected Mpox cases following the confirmation of six cases since the outbreak was detected in Juba last month, according to the state health minister’s briefing during a cabinet meeting on Thursday.

The first index case which prompted declaration of the outbreak was confirmed on February 7, in a 31-year-old man, a Ugandan national who works with a company in Juba.

CES Acting Minister of Information, Jacob Aligo Lo-Lado, said 74 contacts of the suspected and confirmed mpox cases were also traced and are being monitored.

Lo-Lado said the index case has since been discharged after recovering while the other five cases are currently hospitalized.

“The Mpox outbreak also was reported where suspected cases are 27 and confirmed cases are 6 and contact identified and subjected to trader in interest daily 74,” he said in a media briefing.

Kediende Chong, the Director General for Preventive Health Services and Emergency Response at the national Ministry of Health, also confirmed the mpox data.

“We have only five confirmed cases plus the one that we have discharged already. There were six cases, and currently we have only five active cases. And then the suspected cases are 27, and then 74 contacts which are not considered cases.”

On the cholera outbreak, Lo-Lado said the state has registered a cumulative total of 5,317 cases since October 2024. The cholera outbreak has also resulted in 79 deaths, with a case fatality rate of 1.5 percent.

The acting information minister said Juba County and Juba City Council areas have recorded the highest cases of 4,708. Meanwhile, 609 cases were recorded in Terekeka in the north of the state and Yei River and Kajokeji Counties reported one case each.

“On the prevalence of cholera outbreak in central Equatoria state, a cumulative cases are reported at 5,317 cases with Juba County and Juba City Council having 4,708 and Terekeka with 609, Yei River with 1, Kaju-keji with 1.”

Mpox is an infectious disease that can cause a painful rash, enlarged lymph nodes, fever, headache, muscle ache, back pain and low energy.

It is said to spread from person to person mainly through close contact with someone who has mpox, including members of a household.

South Sudan has been on high alert since August 2024 when the new strain was recorded among some of its neighbors including Kenya, Uganda, DRC, and Central Africa Republic.