Roundup: Cholera outbreak brings more pain, sufferings to S. Sudanese

The recent outbreak of cholera has increased pain and sufferings of South Sudanese who have already been struggling with tough humanitarian conditions because of the escalating violence in the country.

South Sudanese Health Minister Riek Gai Kok said Tuesday that at least 18 people have died of cholera in Central Equatoria State and over 171 cholera cases have been confirmed, declaring an outbreak of the highly contagious infection in the country.

The first cholera case was reported at a UN Protection of Civilians base in early June, the health minister said, adding that the overcrowding of people formed an incubating environment for the disease.

Cholera has found a suitable environment at UN camps in the South Sudanese capital of Juba where thousands of displaced people are seeking shelter, protection and food after fleeing violence in their hometowns.

The outbreak of the disease added to the sufferings of the South Sudanese people who are already facing tough humanitarian conditions caused by the escalating violence in the newly-born state.

South Sudan plunged into violence in December 2013, when fighting erupted between troops loyal to President Salva Kiir and defectors led by his former deputy Riek Machar. The conflict soon turned into an all-out war, which has left thousands of South Sudanese people dead and forced around 1.9 million people to flee homes.

Aid agencies recently warned the spread of diseases, hunger as well as physical abuses, as a wave of violence was recently witnessed by South Sudan's oil-rich Upper Nile and Unity States, which left more people homeless.

Meanwhile, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) warned scarcity of food, as the approach of the rainy season in the country comes, which may cause a food crisis in a long term.

Additionally, the recent military escalation has forced the ICRC and other aid groups to suspend their activities and reduce the number of their staff at Leer area, the biggest ICRC food distribution center in the world.

Antonio Thomas, a political analyst, blamed that the warring parties in South Sudan are responsible for the war, hunger and diseases the South Sudanese people are facing, warning the cholera outbreak is expected to expand to wide areas.

"Water contamination, lack of sanitation channels," and the overcrowding of people at the camps will extend the spread of cholera, he added.

Last year, cholera killed around 167 people out of 6,400 confirmed cases in South Sudan before the highly contagious disease was contained via intervention of the WHO and aid agencies, such as the ICRC and the international Medicines Sans Frontiers. Endit