The World Health Organization says that a confirmed cholera case has been found inside one of the UN ‘Protection of Civilians’ site in Juba, as well as several other suspected cases.
“On 1 June 2015, a cholera case was confirmed in UN House PoC after Vibrio cholerae inaba was isolated from 1 of 5 patient samples. Overall, 13 suspect cases have been investigated in UN House PoC while two suspect cases have been reported outside the PoC from Hai Referendum in Juba,” reads a WHO early warning report.
WHO says the national cholera taskforce has been “activated” to respond to the case and the possibility of an outbreak.
According to the health report, a cluster of four suspect cholera cases was initially reported on 26 May following investigations conducted jointly by the Ministry of Health with support from WHO and IMC in UN House PoC.
“One of the four suspect cases was eventually confirmed to have cholera after Vibrio cholerae inaba was isolated at the National Public Health Laboratory,” WHO stated.
The global health organization also reported that testing is underway on samples from nine other suspected cases.
Photo: A cholera patient in Juba last year (MSF/Andreea Campeanu)