Cholera Outbreak Imminent in South Sudan

9 January 2005 marked the paper-work ending of a 21 year old civil war between Northern and Southern Sudan that stole over 2 million lives. Almost two years later, the UN fears that cholera will soon break out in Southern Sudan, due to water contamination in the Nile River. The contamination is coming from human corpses, floating in the river after the people were killed in fighting in Malakal, South Sudan. The fighting, which killed over 150 people and wounded hundreds more, according to UN estimates, broke out between Khartoum and SPLA (Sudan People's Liberation Army) rebel forces last week. The SPLA accused Khartoum's Sudan Armed Forces of an attempt on the life of an SPLA commander, which led to retaliatory fighting that left over two dozens civilians among the dead.

The fighting did not occur in Darfur, but the intense and intricate conflicts between the North and South of Sudan have ripple effects throughout the whole country, and this is far from the last story that will emerge from Sudan about the deteriorating situation in the South.