The authorities of the Abyei Special Administrative Area (ASAA) on Friday confirmed three cases of cholera in the area, which had been free of the disease since last year’s nationwide outbreak.
Dr. Ayom Kurchiek, the Abyei Minister of Health and Environment, told Radio Tamazuj over the weekend that the new cases were registered in Amiet Village as three tests returned positive from a local laboratory. He added that two confirmatory tests at the national laboratory were positive.
“Last week, the general health situation in Abyei was normal; however, cholera cases appeared at our local health facilities for the first time since the 2024 cholera outbreak in South Sudan,” he explained. “As of last week, Abyei was cholera-free, so the test was carried out using Rapid Diseases Test (RDT), and the result sometimes is negative or positive. The national laboratory proved that two cases of cholera were positive on Friday, so our surveillance team is in the field sensitizing the people to take patients with cholera-related symptoms to health facilities.”
“If the cholera test is negative, we will still treat the watery diarrhea,” Minister Kurchiek added.
The official admitted that his ministry had run out of drugs, but that some health centers were supported by humanitarian organizations.
“There is a drug shortage in Abyei although the government strives to bring medicines because the population increased due to the war in Sudan. The availability in our stock is not enough to treat the current population, although Nongovernmental organizations support us with medicines,” he said. “I am now in Juba to engage the national health ministry to support the Abyei area with malaria drugs because we are approaching the rainy season, where cases of malaria increase.”
“As the Abyei government, we want to purchase drugs before the wet season because some areas are hard to reach when the rains increase,” he added.
Meanwhile, Abyei Information Minister Yohona Akol Ngor advised residents to keep their environments clean to stop the spread of the disease.
“My message to the people of Abyei is to clean their surroundings so that flies do not spread diseases and contaminate food,” he said, “I encourage people to keep their homes clean to reduce the spread of cholera. As they say, ‘prevention is better than the cure.’”