An aerial view of the flooded villages, near Old Fangak. South Sudan 2022 (Photo: © Florence Miettaux/MSF).

Fangak County Commissioner in Jonglei State on Friday expressed concerns about a surge in cases of Hepatitis E in the area leading to 19 deaths since June 2023.

Biel Boutros Biel said he obtained a medical record of 19 death cases related to the disease mostly women since the outbreak was declared.

He attributed the rise in cases of the viral epidemic to the unhygienic conditions resulting from seasonal flooding and increasing local population.

According to Boutros, the country has been receiving returnees and refugees from Sudan.

“With the arrival of returnees from Sudan and IDPs from Malakal, the county is overwhelmed and then another challenge is the outbreak of the Hepatitis E that we have been battling.”

“The last report I got from the County Health Department is that over 19 people died and mostly women, since then, it continued with us and MSF try to manage it last time.”

“They brought some kind of vaccine but because they are overwhelmed, they targeted only women who are mostly affected by this kind of outbreak.”

According to the World Health Organization, Hepatitis E is an inflammation of the liver caused by infection with the hepatitis E virus (HEV).

The virus is transmitted via the fecal-oral route, principally via contaminated water.

Hepatitis E is found worldwide, but it is the most common in East and South Asia.

Every year, there are an estimated 20 million HEV infections worldwide, leading to an estimated 3.3 million symptomatic cases of viral disease.