ReliefWeb

Highlights

• The cholera outbreak continues to intensify and is the most severe, longest and most widespread outbreak since the onset of the 2013 crisis. Since June 2016, 8,160 cases including 248 deaths (case fatality rate 3.1 per cent) have been reported from 19 counties. Children and young adults under 30 years are the most affected, constituting 70 per cent of cases.

• Severe malnutrition rates remain high. In May, UNICEF and partners screened 149,655 children (six to 59 months) with 6,068 identified with severe acute malnutrition (SAM) and 18,892 with moderate acute malnutrition (MAM). Screenings in nine out of 10 states indicate malnutrition rates above the emergency level.

• Sustained access in parts of Unity, Jonglei, Upper Nile and Central Equatoria states continues to be a challenge and four Rapid Response Mechanism (RRM) missions were recently postponed or cancelled due to insecurity.

Situation Overview & Humanitarian Needs

The nutrition situation in the country remains dire as the peak lean season approaches. In Jonglei, the situation has been steadily deteriorating, with recent Rapid Response Mechanism (RRM) missions to Normanyang and Kormoun in Ayod County and Pieri in Uror County showing proxy global acute malnutrition (GAM) at alarming rates of 34 per cent, 47 per cent, and 24 per cent respectively – the World Health Organization (WHO) emergency threshold is 15 per cent. Countrywide, an estimated 5.5 million people are now food insecure, with malnutrition at critical levels in much of the country; screening results from May indicate GAM rates above the 15 per cent threshold in nine out of ten states.

The security situation across the country remains unstable, severely impacting sustained humanitarian access; 60 humanitarian workers were evacuated from northern Jonglei in late April, while 150 aid workers in eastern Upper Nile were recently put on standby for evacuation due to fighting in the area.
While the RRM is UNICEF’s primary mode of delivery of services to otherwise inaccessible population, four RRM missions have recently been postponed or cancelled due to the unstable security situation.
A total of 266 cases of cholera were reported in May, 161 of which were from Kapoeta North County in Eastern Equatoria. Cumulatively, 8,160 cases with 248 deaths (case fatality rate 3.1 per cent) have been reported since the outbreak began in June 2016. The case fatality rate in 2017 is the highest so far recorded compared to previous outbreaks, with case fatality rates around 2.3 per cent in 2014 and 2.6 per cent 2015.

In May, 133 cases of measles have been reported, bringing the total number to 644 cases in 2017, with three deaths. The majority of cases originate from Wau, Western Bahr el Ghazal, though cases have also been reported from Jonglei and Eastern Equatoria. The transmission of chicken pox also continues in Wau, with 335 cases reported in the first three weeks of May. Cumulatively, 3,139 cases have been reported this year, mostly from internally displaced persons (IDP) sites.