November 13, 2024 (MALAKAL) – The medical charity, Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) said it has set up a 20-bed cholera treatment unit (CTU) at the Renk Civil Hospital in Upper Nile State of South Sudan, in response to a cholera outbreak declared by the Health ministry on 28 October. “We call on all organisations in Upper Nile state to help prevent the spread of the disease within Upper Nile State and beyond. The MSF-supported CTU has so far received and treated 45 cholera cases, and recorded among them two deaths,” the medical charity said in a statement. Most patients, it said, are arriving from Sudan, where a cholera outbreak was declared in August 2024. However, MSF teams have also received patients from the local population of Renk. Posing a significant threat to both refugees and the local community are contaminated water sources, open defecation, and overcrowded living conditions due to new arrivals from Sudan. “Given the inadequate, overcrowded living conditions and continued influx of refugees and returnees from Sudan into [the cities of] Renk and Malakal, there is an imminent urgent need for a response to improve the water, sanitation and hygiene situation to prevent further spread of the disease,” …

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