South Sudan’s health ministry has declared a cholera outbreak in Rubkona county in the northern oil-producing Unity state.
A total of 31 cases, including one death, have been reported from Rubkona town and Bentiu camp for the internally displaced persons (IDP), it said.
Samples taken to the national public health laboratory in the capital, Juba, returned positive tests.
“The ministry of health and partners are conducting further case search in the households and their neighbourhood to identify additional cholera cases following a steady rise in acute watery diarrhoea cases reported in both the Bentiu and Rubkona IDP camps and the host community,” the statement added.
Displaced people in Unity state live in congested areas where water sources are highly contaminated.
In South Sudan the cholera risk is typically high during the rainy season that starts from May to the end of October.
The latest outbreak is the first to be reported since 2017 when more than 28,000 people were infected and 644 killed by the waterborne disease, according to the health ministry.