Death toll from cholera outbreak hits 63 in South Sudan

The World Health Organization (WHO) said it has intensified its response to the cholera outbreak in South Sudan after 63 people have lost their lives and 2,340 people treated for the disease.
WHO said steps have been taken to conduct comprehensive investigation following up all contact of the cases.
"As of June 27, a total of 2,340 cholera cases including 63 deaths had been reported in South Sudan," WHO said in its latest update for June received on Monday.
WHO said medical charity Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) reported two cases of suspected cholera from its hospital in Bentiu.
"The first case is a 4 years old female, admitted with malnutrition, pneumonia and vomiting," it said.
WHO said it is running three cholera treatment centers (CTCs) and three oral rehydration points (ORPs) in key areas of the city.
Its medical teams have already provided cholera treatment to hundreds of people and are in the midst of building two additional CTCs and further ORPs.
Aid agencies have warned that the situation is dire and may worsen as the rainy season hits. Hundreds of thousands of people in South Sudan are living in displaced camps which are congested and lack clean water.
This cholera outbreak is an emergency on top of other multiple emergencies facing an extremely vulnerable population in South Sudan.
It comes at a time when 1 million people are displaced and MSF teams are also seeing worrying levels of malnutrition in several locations, spikes in malaria cases, and other disease outbreaks, such as kala azar.