At least 31 people have died from a cholera outbreak in Ethiopia’s Gambella region, with over 1,500 cases reported in the past month, Doctors Without Borders has warned.
The international organisation said the situation is getting worse due to the arrival of people fleeing violence from neighbouring South Sudan.
“Cholera is rapidly spreading across western Ethiopia, and in parallel, the outbreak in South Sudan is ongoing, endangering thousands of lives,” MSF said in a statement on Friday.
Several parts of Ethiopia, Africa’s second-most populous country with around 120 million people, are battling cholera outbreaks. Amhara, the country’s second-largest region, is among the hardest hit.
In South Sudan’s Akobo County, located in the Upper Nile region, MSF reported 1,300 cholera cases in the last four weeks.
The group linked the worsening outbreak to recent violence in Upper Nile between the South Sudanese government and armed groups.
“Thousands are being displaced, losing access to healthcare, safe water, and sanitation,” MSF said.
South Sudan, still struggling with instability and poverty since gaining independence in 2011, declared a cholera epidemic in October 2024.
According to the World Health Organization, about 4,000 people died from cholera in 2023, with most cases recorded in Africa — a 71 percent increase from the previous year.
Cholera is a serious intestinal infection caused by contaminated food and water, often due to poor sanitation.
