South Sudanese Refugees in Ethiopia Face Potential 'Health Catastrophe', Warns Medical Charity

A major international medical organization has sounded the alarm over an impending "health catastrophe" affecting South Sudanese refugees in Ethiopia, as cases of cholera surge and malnutrition spreads through overcrowded camps along the border.

In a statement released Friday, Doctors Without Borders (Médecins Sans Frontières – MSF) reported that the local healthcare infrastructure is buckling under the pressure, unable to meet the needs of tens of thousands of recent arrivals.

“With the rise of waterborne diseases such as cholera and acute watery diarrhoea, the threat of a major public health disaster is growing rapidly,” MSF warned.

The crisis has been triggered by a resurgence of violence in South Sudan, where a fragile power-sharing agreement has collapsed. Fighting between forces loyal to President Salva Kiir and factions backing First Vice President Riek Machar has escalated. Machar's house arrest in March has further jeopardized the already tenuous peace efforts.

MSF estimates that between 35,000 and 85,000 people have fled to Mattar, a border town in Ethiopia.

The organization has treated over 1,200 cholera patients so far, warning that the disease can be fatal in up to 20 percent of untreated cases. MSF also reported that more than 40 percent of malaria tests have returned positive, and nearly 7 percent of children under five are suffering from severe acute malnutrition.