Children at risk of cholera outbreak

Up to 5,000 children less than five years old could die of the current outbreak of cholera, unless urgent action is taken to contain the epidemic, UNICEF has warned.

18 people, including two children, have already died of the epidemic in Juba over the last four weeks.

Unicef says the first case of Cholera was reported on the 27th of May at a UN camp in Juba. The government declared the epidemic in Juba nearly a month later.

“Up to 5,000 children under five are at risk of dying from cholera unless urgent action is taken to contain this threat,” said the UNICEF Representative in South Sudan, Jonathan Veitch. “It is deplorable that such an easily preventable disease could destroy so many young lives.”

186 cases have been reported across Central Equatoria State. UNICEF says children less than five years of age account for 15% of all suspected cholera cases.

It says it is doing awareness campaigns on how to prevent, detect and treat cholera.

The agency says it requires 4.6 million dollars to fund an emergency cholera response for the next six months.