JUBA, April 7 (Xinhua) -- Authorities in South Sudan's Jonglei state said Friday they have registered nearly 200 new cholera infections and 29 deaths since health workers confirmed outbreak of the acute diarrhea disease in February.
Angok Gordon, Jonglei State Minister of Health told Xinhua that official figures from health partners show that 198 cholera cases and 29 deaths have been reported.
Gordon said most of the affected came from remote fishing villages along the River Nile and from rural cattle- keeping communities.
Gordon attributed the rise to lack of clean drinking and poor sanitation in rural communities. War-torn South Sudan has declared cholera outbreak for the third year in a row since 2014.
According to a World Health Organization (WHO) bulletin of March, a cumulative 4,401 cholera cases including 81 deaths have been reported in South Sudan in 9 states since the outbreak was declared in July 2016.
The agency said partners have put efforts together to control the outbreak by increasing social mobilization and medical supplies.
