Health workers in Fashoda County in South Sudan’s Upper Nile state said there have been about 18 cases of cholera with five deaths in the last two weeks.

The infected citizens are currently getting medical attention at cholera treatment centers established by Doctors Without Borders and South Sudan Society of Red Cross at Lol and Poul villages.

Dr. Olau Alou, the Fashoda County Medical Services Director, told Radio Tamazuj on Wednesday that the five fatalities and the 18 confirmed cholera cases were from Lol and Poul areas.

The official also expressed concern about the spread of the outbreak to the neighboring areas in Upper Nile. He attributed the problem to the movements of infected people to areas where there are no health facilities, which makes it difficult to contain the outbreak.

Alou noted the 13 patients are now receiving treatment at therapeutic centers, saying the county headquarters have not yet recorded any cholera cases so far.

“The MSF and SSRCS have opened about three cholera treatment centers in Lol, Kodok and Poul areas,” he explained.

Last week, a medical assistant in Kodok Payam Hospital told Radio Tamazuj that four people died of cholera and about 100 cholera cases were recorded in Lol area alone.

However, the Upper Nile State Minister of Health Mr. Upal dismissed reports of cholera outbreak in Kodok area and its surrounding areas, saying the story was fabricated.

The official criticized Radio Tamazuj for reporting cholera disease in the area, describing it is a “mere lie”.  

“I am not happy with what was reported about the spread of cholera at Kodok payam last week. Who told you that there was a cholera disease there in Kodok?” he asked.

File photo: An aircraft chartered by Cordaid unloading relief supplies in Kodok

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