The national Ministry of Health has raised a red flag over the increased burden of endemic diseases such as malaria and acute watery diarrhoea in the country.

The statement stemmed from an incident where the ministry had sent a team to investigate reports that about 89 people had succumbed to an unknown illness in Fangak County.

On November 13, 2021, media reports emerged indicating that several deaths from an undiagnosed illness had been noted by Fangak County officials. According to MOH, preliminary findings note that the disease mostly affects elderly women and young children aged 1 to 14 years old.

The reported symptoms included diarrhoea, high fever, joint pain, vomiting, body weakness, chest pain, and loss of appetite.

This prompted the MOH to deploy a team in Jonglei State on November 15 to analyse the situation.

The team comprised epidemiologists, surveillance officers, and clinical officers, and also experts from the laboratory to conduct fact-checking and analyse the situation on the ground.

MOH said in a press release that the findings revealed that “there was a high positivity rate for malaria among those tested at the private clinics and in Pakaan PHCC.’’

According to MOH, a provisional verdict by the Rapid Response Team indicated that there was no verification of the disease that could have killed the 89 people.

“The team reported an occurrence of illness in the community presenting with symptoms and signs of malaria, fever, vomiting, and diarrhoea. The report indicated that it was a situation aggravated by the flooding, which reduced access to health facilities,’’ MOH stated.

“Out of 162 cases, 79, (49%) were reported as malaria RDT positive,” it added.