Humanitarian organizations completed a vaccination campaign in Bentiu on Thursday for more than 20,000 people, according to a report by the UN Mission in South Sudan.

Cholera is a diarrhoeal disease caused by eating or drinking contaminated food or water. An outbreak of cholera affected about 400 people in Juba since 15 May.  

As a precaution against spread of the disease in the Bentiu PoC camp, UNICEF provided oral cholera vaccines for the entire camp population except infants under one year old, who are not vaccinated for cholera.

Medical Officer Dr. Bimpa Dieu said health workers trained 24 teams of tvolunteers to carry out the campaign. Each team consists of a vaccinator, crowd controller, screener and social mobilizer.

The World Health Organization (WHO) and UNICEF, along with the International Organization for Migration, Doctors Without Borders, CARE and the International Rescue Committee managed the four-day campaign.

A second dose of the vaccine will be given two weeks after the first.

In another press release today, MSF said that it is prepositioning cholera-related supplies in the camp in case an outbreak occurs in spite of the vaccination campaign.

Dr. Dieu says that cholera can be prevented with “good sanitation, with enough water and also discipline from the community.

“Kids in each family should be well educated about hygiene as well as the use of latrines,” he said.

File photo: A man takes a first dose of cholera vaccination at UNMISS Tomping IDP camp in Juba (Medair/Wendy van Amerongen)

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