One year ago, on 28 October 2024, South Sudan declared a cholera outbreak. The outbreak began in Renk, a border town between Sudan and South Sudan, triggered by the influx of returnees and refugees fleeing conflict in Sudan, before spreading to other areas.

To date, nearly 95 000 suspected cases and over 1 500 deaths have been reported from 55 counties across 9 States and all 3 Administrative Areas.

In response, the Ministry of Health, in collaboration with other government institutions and with support from the World Health Organization (WHO), UNICEF, and other partners, has activated multi-sectoral measures to control the outbreak and reduce its impact. These measures include the deployment of rapid response teams, prepositioning of medical supplies, vaccination efforts, and coordination across all levels to protect communities and save lives. This is the worst cholera outbreak in the country’s history since its independence in September 2011, with a high number of fatalities.

Notably, the weekly number of new Cholera cases has drastically reduced from an average of 1 000 cases at the peak of the outbreak in December 2024 to a record lowest of 114 in the week ending 28th September. The number of infected Counties with active transmission declined from 55 to 10 in the same reporting period. And there was no newly infected county since June 2025.

Dr. Kennedy Ganiko, Undersecretary of the Ministry of Health, Republic of South Sudan, stated that “Our combined efforts—including nationwide vaccination, improved treatment and testing, delivery of medicines and supplies, strengthened Infection Prevention and Control (IPC/WASH), and surveillance—have helped slow cholera transmission and save many lives,” “together with partners, they have worked tirelessly since the outbreak began to protect communities and reduce deaths, urging ongoing commitment to end the outbreak.

Dr. Humphrey Karamagi, WHO Representative for South Sudan, echoed these sentiments, stating, “Despite the ongoing humanitarian challenges, including flooding, multiple outbreaks, and displacement, we have been able to work together and have seen cases fall from 1000 to less than 200 per week. Recovery of cholera cases is at 98%, and supplies are better prepositioned—a positive sign that we are heading in the right direction. We must sustain these efforts and aim to end cholera transmission before the end of the year. We must now begin to look at how we can sustain our efforts and invest in implementing long-term health interventions to prevent future outbreaks.”

South Sudan faces recurring public health threats from infectious disease outbreaks and climate-related emergencies such as floods, droughts, and heat waves. As of August 2025, the country had active outbreaks of Anthrax, Cholera, Circulating Vaccine-Derived Poliovirus Type 2 (cVDPV2), Viral Hepatitis E, Measles, and Mpox. At the same time, floods had inundated 16 health facilities and displaced more than 56,000 households, affecting nearly 200,000 people. Weak health systems, limited infrastructure, and inaccessibility (seasonal or conflict caused) amplify the impacts of these risks. Therefore, it is essential for South Sudan to prioritize building preparedness, preventive measures, and detection capabilities as strategies to mitigate these health impacts

WHO continues to support the country in strengthening essential response measures such as surveillance, laboratory testing capacity, treatment of cases, vaccination, Risk Communication and Community engagement. Throughout the epidemic, WHO has been providing technical guidance to facilitate all health partners and practitioners in delivering crucial medical supplies and equipment to the country to combat the cholera outbreak. And once interruption of Cholera transmission is attained, WHO will embark on lessons learnt documentation, advocacy and support to implementation of risk mitigation interventions needed to prevent future outbreaks. Building on the evidence gathered in the current and all past outbreaks, WHO will also venture into predictive analytics to inform targeted interventions for prevention.