South Sudan cholera outbreak over

South Sudan’s cholera outbreak is over, the ministry of health declared Tuesday, after 47 deaths from the disease.

There have been no new laboratory confirmed cases since 5 October, the UN’s Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said.

1818 cases were recorded this year in Central Equatoria and Jonglei states since the first confirmed instance of cholera on 1 June. 2.58% of patients died of the disease this year, OCHA said.

The 2015 outbreak was significantly smaller than the 2014 outbreak, in which 167 people died out of 6421 cases in five states. In 2014 2.60% of cholera patients died, which is roughly equivalent to this year’s fatality rate. With proper treatment, fewer than 1% of cholera cases are fatal.

The initial response to the 2015 outbreak was slow. The first case was confirmed on 1 June but the outbreak was not declared by the ministry of health until 23 July owing to a delay by President Salva Kiir.

South Sudan’s weak economy exacerbated the outbreak because clean water became more expensive, forcing citizens to take water from unsafe sources.

The Ministry of Health and NGOs ramped up their response by targeting water distribution points and setting up cholera treatment centers in affected communities. They also prepositioned cholera responses materials in states outside Juba and vaccinated displaced persons in conflict areas in case the outbreak spread.

Cholera occurs naturally in South Sudan, but there were no outbreaks here from 2009 until 2013. Cholera reappeared after the outbreak of war in 2013 which forced mass displacement of people to live in substandard conditions.

68 new cholera cases last week, 1 death (1 Sep.)

Cholera case confirmed in Greater Pibor, malaria high (27 Aug.)

New South Sudan cholera cases more than triple in a week (25 Aug.)

42 dead in ‘declining’ South Sudan cholera outbreak (3 Aug.)

Cholera cases reach nearly 1000 in S Sudan outbreak (16 Jul.)

Doctors Without Borders opens cholera centre in Munuki A (11 Jul.)

Map: South Sudan cholera outbreak spreads from Juba (8 Jul.)

High fatality rate in S Sudan cholera outbreak (3 Jul.)

Cholera deaths reach 20 as Juba outbreak spreads (27 Jun.)

Facts and figures on Juba’s new cholera outbreak (23 Jun.)

General Kiir’s ‘busy schedule’ caused delay announcing cholera outbreak (23 Jun.)

South Sudan declares cholera outbreak after silence on 18 deaths (23 Jun.)