South Sudan: Anti-Cholera Vaccination Campaign

French Translation of the Week

The World Health Organization (WHO) announced on Saturday that they would be starting a vaccination campaign against cholera in the displacement camps in South Sudan where clashes have already resulted in about 900,000 displaced persons.

L'Organisation mondiale de la santé (OMS) a annoncé samedi le démarrage d'une campagne de vaccination contre le choléra dans les camps au Soudan du Sud où les affrontements ont déjà fait quelque 900 000 déplacés.

This article has been translated from French. Click here to read the original version on Jeune Afrique.

"In the first round, about 94,000 people will be vaccinated in the camp called Minkaman and 43,000 more in the camps in Djouba," indicated the United Nations in a press release.  The operation begins on Saturday and will be carried out in collaboration with the South Sudanese government, as well as the humanitarian organizations Doctors Without Borders and Medair.

Since December 15, 2013, South Sudan has been the stage for drama between the army which is loyal to President Kiir and the rebellion backing Riek Machar.  The clashes have already led to thousands of deaths and nearly 900,000 displaced people.

"Even if there was not currently a cholera epidemic, the people who are displaced due to the recent conflict are at risk due to poor sanitary conditions and overpopulation in the camps," explains the WHO.

The vaccine must be administered in two doses within 14 days in order to be effective.

The camps in Minkaman (in the Awerial area) and Djouba were selected "because of their relative stability, as well as the easy access to these places," highlighted one of the people in charge of the WHO operations in South Sudan, Dr. Abdinasir Abubakar.  He explained that the campaign would be expanded to other camps as well.

Cholera is an acute intestinal infection caused by ingestion of water or food that is contaminated with the bacteria Vibrio cholerae.  The incubation period is as short as one to five days.  It causes terrible diarrhea which drives severe dehydration, and ultimately death if it is not immediately treated.

About 75% of infected people do not show any symptoms, although the bacterium is present in their feces for 7-14 days after the infection and is deposited into the environment, where it can potentially infect others.  The people who have weak immune systems, infants suffering from malnutrition or people living with HIV, for example, have a much higher risk of death in the case of infection.

According to the estimates made by the WHO, each year there is a total of 3 to 5 million cases of cholera across the world, with 100,00 to 120,000 resulting deaths.

Article translated by Allie Stauss, Staff Intern for the Africa Program at the Wilson Center.

Photo attributed to United Nations Photos courtesy of Flickr Commons.