South Sudan: Urgent action needed to address growing cholera outbreak
There is an imminent need to improve sanitation and hygiene for many living in overcrowded conditions to prevent the further spread of disease.
Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) has set up a 20-bed cholera treatment unit (CTU) at the Renk Civil Hospital in South Sudan, in response to a cholera outbreak declared by the Ministry of Health on Oct. 28. We call on all organizations in Upper Nile State to help prevent the spread of the disease in Upper Nile and beyond.
The MSF-supported CTU has so far treated 45 cholera cases and recorded among them two deaths. Most of the patients are people arriving from the war in Sudan, where a cholera outbreak was declared in August 2024. However, we have also received patients from the local population of Renk. Contaminated water sources, open defecation, and overcrowded living conditions due to new arrivals from Sudan pose a significant threat to refugees and the local community. “Given the inadequate, overcrowded living conditions and continued influx of refugees and returnees from Sudan into the cities of Renk and Malakal, there is an urgent need for a response to improve the water, sanitation and hygiene situation to prevent further spread of the disease,” says Emanuele Montobbio, MSF’s field coordinator for Renk emergency programme. “In the past weeks, an average of up to 800 people are entering Renk daily from Sudan, fleeing from the war in the country.”
“In the past weeks, an average of up to 800 people are entering Renk daily from Sudan, fleeing from the war in the country.”
Emanuele Montobbio, MSF’s field coordinator for Renk emergency programme
Cholera response in Malakal
In Malakal, less than 300km away from Renk, our teams have observed a sharp rise in cholera cases. This is an onward travel destination for many returnees and refugees coming from Renk after fleeing Sudan, some of whom stay in Malakal but many other proceed with further travel to other parts of the country.
The observed rise in cholera cases in Malakal prompted the establishment of a CTU at MSF’s Malakal Town Hospital. As of Nov. 12, in less than a week 65 patients have been admitted to the facility. In parallel, our teams are conducting health education initiatives to help curb the further spread of the disease.
Given the increasing number of patients, we have established a Cholera Treatment Center (CTC) in Assosa, less than 10km away from Malakal Town Hospital, with capacity of up to 100 beds. Our teams are treating cholera patients from Malakal’s protection of civilians (PoC) site, which hosts thousands of people in proximity, heightening the risk of rapid spread. MSF urges other organizations to quickly establish treatment facilities within the PoC to prevent loss of life.
Risk of spread
With people moving across Upper Nile State and other parts of South Sudan, the cholera outbreak poses a risk of spreading beyond Renk and Malakal.
“The current response in Upper Nile does not match the urgency of the situation. We’re calling for stronger, collaborative efforts from all organizations in Renk, and beyond particularly in Malakal, to manage the spread and prevent a further and a wider crisis, as soon as possible,” says Montobbio. “An immediate reactive vaccination campaign is crucial.”
