The United Nations is struggling to contain a cholera outbreak that has killed 27 people in southern Sudan, and effected scores more, a UN official was quoted by Deutsche Presse Agentur (dpa) in the Sudanese capital Khartoum on Thursday. "It is an outbreak. It is serious. And the faster you respond, the faster you can curb it," said Emma Fitzpatrick, a World Health Organisation (WHO) spokeswoman. WHO and the United Nation's Children's Fund (UNICEF) say they are sending additional staff to the region where 1,433 suspected cases have been reported. Cholera is an intestinal infection caused by eating contaminated foods or water, causing severe diarhoea and vomiting. Although easily treatable by rehydration salts, it can turn deadly if no treatment is readily available. The disease can spread rapidly in areas with inadequate treatment of sewage and drinking water as is the case of southern Sudan's infrastructure that was destroyed during a two decade civil war and where many people drink from brackish pools. Furthermore, the population in south Sudan is mushrooming as displaced southerners return home from east African nations and northern Sudan, making conditions ideal for the spread of the disease. Ms. Fitzpatrick says WHO and Sudan's Ministry of Health are working to treat dirty water, adding that the fatality rate has decreased since Monday. The outbreak began in the southern city of Yei in late January but was not identified as cholera until this month. Yei is a bustling outpost where goods from East Africa are shipped north into the southern capital city of Juba. --SP 22 28 Local Time 19 28 GMT
