September 17, 2024 (ABYEI) – A water, sanitation and hygiene crisis is unfolding in Abyei Special Administrative Area, fueling the ongoing hepatitis E outbreak, a medical charity has warned. Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) said poor sanitation, severe water shortages, and inadequate infrastructure are exacerbating the spread of the virus through contaminated drinking water, placing thousands at risk, two months after health authorities declared a Hepatitis E outbreak. Since July 2024, however, at least 41 Hepatitis E cases have been reported, resulting in six deaths. This, MSF said, included five women, three of whom three were pregnant as well as one male. The situation, according to the medical charity, has worsened due to the influx of over 22,000 people crossing the border into Abyei since the beginning of the conflict in neighboring Sudan. The incessant movement of internally displaced people and refugees significantly increases the risk of Hepatitis E transmission in the region, while MSF has faced barriers to diagnose the disease due to a shortage of rapid detection tests, it stated, “Currently, we have four patients in the isolation ward, but the situation is fluctuating, and we urgently need wash and sanitary infrastructures to prevent further deaths,” says Zélie Antier, …

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