Refugees at Al-Jamam camp in South Sudan’s Upper Nile state have complained of an increase in cases of yellow fever amidst fears of the situation turning into an epidemic.
Speaking to Radio Tamazuj, the camp’s residents in Maban county, who have fled from Sudan’s Blue Nile state, reported that the fever continues to spread and signs of other conditions.
“We in al-Jamam camp, in terms of health, are not happy because there is no good treatment for our yellow fever patients. Up to now people are still dying. There are new things appeared these days, there are complaints of headaches and cough and we don’t know what is causing them, people are really suffering from it,” claimed the residents, before adding that infected pregnant women are particularly vulnerable.
They claim that health authorities have failed to control the disease.
“The organization MSF is unable to control these diseases of yellow fever and the rest. Also there is the problem of water. There is a high quantity of chlorine which was added to water. The refugees were not acquainted to these drugs when they were in their areas and they were not using it,” one camp resident reported.
Thousands of Sudanese citizens from Blue Nile state have been fleeing since last year when conflict broke out between Sudanese rebel group, the SPLA-N, and the Sudan Armed Forces (SAF). As well as the camps in Upper Nile state, many others have also travelled to camps in Ethiopia.
UN Photo: The father of a patient infected with yellow fever in El Geneina, West Darfur, 14 November 2012