Epizootic Ulcerative Syndrome (EUS) has been discovered by the Ministry of Livestock and Fisheries as the disease that was causing lesions or wounds on the body of Aweil fish.

Epizootic Ulcerative Syndrome (EUS) is a seasonal water mould that affects both captured and cultured fish. EUS is a fungus of the genus Aphanomyces that causes an external parasite in fish.

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The disease was detected in two different diagnoses carried out by the joint technical team the ministry dispatched to Aweil to investigate the disease outbreak in December 2022,  said the Minister of Livestock and Fisheries, Andigo Onyoti.

According to Onyoti, the initial step of diagnosis entailed field observation of the fish and the water body to identify abnormalities that departed from the typical appearance, such as the fish’s swimming habit.

The second level was laboratory diagnosis, which included fishing at the site, blood, affected muscle parts, and organs extracted from affected fish. The samples of diseased fish were preserved in 10 per cent formalin and transported to the ministry’s central veterinary diagnostic laboratory for examination.

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He said, “Laboratory examinations results of the fish disease in Aweil revealed that there is the presence of hyphae identified as zoospores of aphanomyces of invadans species, indicating a positive diagnosis of Epizootic Ulcerative Syndrome (EUS)”.

He said the diagnosis had been done, and the disease determined, and now the citizens could resume fishing in the area.

 “I, therefore, declare that the state government of Northern Bahr El Ghazal has to lift the ban on fishing activities along the Lol river for our people to go on with their normal livelihood and food security activities,” Oyoti directed.

Despite the fact that it was Christmas, Mary Lero, a representative of the Food and Agriculture Organization, applauded the technical committee for examining fish sickness and identifying the disease.

She also praised the authorities of Northern Bahr El Ghazal State for taking the fish sickness outbreak seriously and prohibiting fishing in the area, saying it was important for safeguarding the health of the people.

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Lero said FAO would hold a workshop to train staff from the state’s ministry of livestock and fisheries and to educate the public about fish diseases to mitigate such problems. 

 “Indeed, FOA has always stood to support the ministry and the government. It has supported [us] logistically and technically in joining the investigation to find out the cause of the,’’ said Lero.

EUS was initially detected in fish in Japanese waters in 1971, and the disease was first detected in Africa in Botswana, Namibia, and Zambia in 2007. It was discovered in the Democratic Republic of Congo in 2018. (DRC). This fungus illness was first identified and diagnosed in March 2020 in Yambio, Western Equatoria State, along the Gangura River’s watershed.

The Gangura River drains the watershed along the Congo-South Sudan border, moving from the Democratic Republic of Congo to South Sudan in an east-west direction, impacting the torrent of Western Equatoria State.

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 “Given the epizootic condition of EUS, this report suggests that the infection in Northern Bahr El Ghazal State at Lol River could be attributed to the flow from Congo watersheds into South Sudan,” the minister red in a statement.

EUS is a fungal disease and the fungus that causes it poses no direct threat to human health. However, the infection caused by eating fish containing muscles and tissue that may contain opportunistic bacteria can have serious health consequences, said Oyoti.