Mysterious disease in Fangak County needs proper attention

The report about the unknown disease that has allegedly killed 89 people in Fangak County, Jonglei State, is so scary that the government needs to launch epidemiological research on it.

According to the latest media reports, the samples taken by local health officials returned negative results for cholera.

It is also reported that a World Health Organisation (WHO) task force has been sent to the area to investigate an unidentified illness that has killed 89 people.

‘We decided to send a rapid response team to go and do risk assessment and 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,’’ Sheila Baya, from the WHO was quoted in a BBC report.

It is a huge number of deaths that the government needs to take seriously and establish what disease is killing the people in the area. It can be one of the zoonotic diseases. Animals are good as they provide humans with various benefits, such as meat, milk, hides, and many other things to support their livelihoods. However, animals sometimes carry germs that are harmful to human beings. The germs may cause viruses, bacteria, and fungi.

There are several ways in which germs can spread from animals to humans. It can be through direct or indirect contact with infected animals, foodborne like taking raw milk; and waterborne, which is through drinking or coming into contact with contaminated water that has been affected by the faeces of infected animals.

Therefore, the government needs to urgently find out what this unknown disease is that has so far killed 89 people in Fangak County.  Unfortunately, the authorities often take a long time to act. For instance, in 2017, it took the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Livestock and Fisheries four months to declare a Rift Valley fever (RVF) outbreak in the country.

On December 7, 2017, the RVF outbreak was first suspected in Yirol East County of Lakes State after three deaths of individuals with a history of severe hemorrhagic illness in Thonabutkok village, Yali Payam,

There were also several cases of abortions in goats and sheep. Other impacts were the deaths of goats and cows. Despite all those reports, it took the government and WHO four months to confirm the outbreak of RVF in the Lakes State.

According to concealed sources, the government did not want to declare the outbreak of the RVF in the country for fear that the World Trade Organisation would ban the animal products from South Sudan. However, the Ministry of Livestock, in collaboration with the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations, was able to contain the spread of the RVF in Lakes State.

Nevertheless, with the situation of the floods in the country that have severely affected most areas, including Fangak County, there is a high risk of disease outbreaks, especially zoonotic diseases.

The WHO team needs to urgently come up with the result of the unknown disease killing people in Fangak to contain the spread of the disease.