South Sudan cholera cases fall ‘substantially’

South Sudan’s deadly cholera outbreak is in “significant decline,” medical charity Médecins Sans Frontières/Doctors Without Borders (MSF) announced Thursday.

South Sudan’s deadly cholera outbreak is in “significant decline,” medical charity Médecins Sans Frontières/Doctors Without Borders (MSF) announced Thursday.

MSF said that the number of new cholera cases have fallen substantially in recent weeks.

“While MSF will remain vigilant, it looks like the efforts of the Ministry of Health and other organisations, including MSF, have helped bring the epidemic under control,” Brian Moller, MSF Head of Mission in South Sudan, said in a press release.

Since 15 May 2014, there have been 5,561 cholera cases nationwide. The outbreak began in Juba but spread to other parts of Equatoria as well as Unity and Upper Nile states, killing over 120 people.

“Deteriorating living conditions for hundreds of thousands of people, combined with the lack of functioning health facilities, created a perfect storm for the spread of the disease earlier this year,” Moller added.

MSF said it would scale down its cholera response operations given the improved situation.

Photo: Cholera treatment center in Juba (MSF)

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