Cholera patients being treated at MSF-run hospital in Malakal in Upper Nile State. (Photo: MSF).

The national ministry of health has reported 1,745 confirmed cholera cases and 23 deaths across the country since an outbreak of the waterborne disease was declared on 28th October 2024.

Acting Minister of Health James Hoth Mai disclosed the data in an emergency meeting in Juba on December 6, chaired by Service Cluster Vice President Hessen Abdelbagi, and attended by key officials.

Mai, who is also the Minister of Labor, explained that the disease has spread across 18 counties, infecting 1,745 people – out of whom 1,417 have recovered and 307 are still undergoing treatment.

He said the health ministry and partners will collaborate to address the health crisis by preventing further spread through vaccination campaigns.

Minister Mai said the national government is working together with local authorities to ensure that the situation is contained and urged the public to take precautionary measures to protect both themselves and their communities.

“Accumulated cases in the 18 counties is 1,745, and we have 23 death cases. It is an alarming rate,” he said in the emergency meeting.

“The Minister of Health is calling on our public to observe good hygiene and sanitation. Most of our people get water from the river sometimes, and we are urging them to boil water.”

“They don’t take water outside. And they wash hands and also they have to be mindful of what they will eat.”

“It is alarming and the government and partners should work in hand to rescue our people. So that the disease doesn’t escalate into other areas where health services are very remote.”

Minister Mai said the most affected counties are Renk, Malakal, Rubkona, and Juba.

South Sudan declared a cholera outbreak on 28th October with thousands of cases so far and rapid spread that has prompted the government to describe the situation as significant public health challenge.

At a press briefing on 17th November, Health Minister Yolanda Awel Deng said the outbreak has spread beyond the epicenter in Renk to Malakal, Juba, Aweil and other parts of the country exacerbated by the prevailing humanitarian crises including the influx of people from war-torn Sudan.

She said the health ministry has established an incident management system (IMS) to ensure a multi-sectoral cholera response and prevention including enhancing surveillance and laboratory capacity.

The Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) said on December 6, that it was deeply concerned about a rapidly escalating cholera outbreak in Malakal of Upper Nile state where 737 cases have since been recorded.

MSF said the hundreds of cases in Malakal were recorded from when the outbreak was declared on on 28th October to 3rd December, adding that the charity’s hospital treated 646 of those patients.

Cholera is a deadly disease transmitted through the ingestion of contaminated food or water, leaving patients with severe acute watery diarrhea and it can kill within hours if left untreated, according to WHO.

Most people infected with V. cholerae do not develop any symptoms, although the bacteria are present in their feaces for 1–10 days after infection and are shed back into the environment, potentially infecting other people.

Among people who develop symptoms, the majority have mild or moderate symptoms and a minority of patients develop acute watery diarrhea with severe dehydration.

On December 1, the Ministry of Health, with support from the World Health Organization (WHO), secured over 282,153 doses of oral cholera vaccine to initiate a vaccination campaigns in cholera transmission hotspots across the country.

It is not clear if the vaccination campaign has been rolled out yet.