The World Health Organisation (WHO) has begun investigating the deaths of almost 100 people in South Sudan. The deaths occurred in Fangak and Jonglei State in South Sudan.
The BBC noted that initial samples collected in the area returned negative for cholera, and spoke to the WHO's Sheila Baya who explained the ongoing concerns. She said so far there had been 89 deaths and an investigation was ongoing.
Baya told the BBC: "We decided to send a rapid response team to go and do risk assessment and an investigation.
"That is when they will be able to collect samples from the sick people but provisionally the figure that we got was that there were 89 deaths."
She also noted that it has become increasingly difficult to reach the Fangak area due to flooding that has made it inaccessible by land. She and her team subsequently waited for a helicopter.
The flooding in the area has been so severe it has caused over 200,000 people to flee their homes. Humanitarian agency Concern Worldwide has said it has been the worst flooding in almost 60 years.
Concern's County Director in South Sudan, Shumon Sengupta, explained the dire situation.
He said: "The magnitude of the flooding this year has been immense. Over 200,000 people, more than a quarter of the local population in Unity State have been forced to leave their homes as a result of rising floodwaters.
"There has not been flooding on this scale in the region since 1962, according to local records, and despite agencies like Concern Worldwide working tirelessly to respond to the escalating humanitarian crisis, (with financial assistance of donors such as BHA/USAID, ECHO, GAC, EFP and UNICEF) the needs far exceed the current scale of the humanitarian response, both within and outside the camps for internally displaced people.
"Families have been displaced and are sheltering on higher ground, in public buildings or with neighbours or family. Access to basic services including health and nutrition support has been disrupted as clinics have been damaged, submerged in floodwaters, or are inaccessible."
International charity Médecins Sans Frontières has also previously commented on how the flooding has put pressure on health facilities.
They said: "We are extremely concerned about malnutrition, with severe acute malnutrition levels two times the WHO threshold, and the number of children admitted to our hospital with severe malnutrition doubling since the start of the floods."
Newsweek has contacted the Ministry of Health for Republic of South Sudan for comment.
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
About the writer
Gerrard Kaonga is a Newsweek U.S. News Reporter and is based in London, U.K. His focus is reporting on U.S. ... Read more
