Health officials in South Sudan’s north Unity state on Friday confirmed 21 measles deaths among children aged 5-10 bringing the total deaths to 61 since July.
Elijah Nyuon Kuoyuot , the Rubkona County health surveillance officer, said the latest deaths have been recorded in Rubkona and Koch Counties and in Bentiu internally displaced persons camp (IDPs) where some of the returnees and refugees who fled ongoing conflict in neighboring Sudan are being hosted.
“Measles death cases have rapidly increased due to congestion in the reception centers and in internally displaced persons camp in Bentiu,” Kuoyuot told Juba Echo in an interview in Rubkona County.
The Unity state ministry of health initially confirmed 40 measles deaths and more than 800 admitted cases of measles in July alone.
Kuoyuot said they fear for the worst amid daily new arrivals of returnees and refugees across the border with Sudan.
“As I am talking now some death cases are not being reported to health facilities, so we are encouraging mothers and caretakers to immediately report any suspected case of measles disease to any nearest health facility,” he said.
South Sudan now hosts more than 190,000 returnees, including refugees who fled fighting in Sudan across the 12 border crossing points, according to the United Nations.
The fighting, which erupted in the Sudanese capital of Khartoum on April 15 and soon spread to different parts of the country, is being fought between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces.
Both sides have accused each other of initiating the conflict.
