With the addition of seven suspected Rift Valley fever (RVF) cases reported from Yirol East County, South Sudan, 20 suspect cases have been reported in the past month.
Three of the cases are confirmed and three probable cases who died and had epidemiological links to the confirmed cases.
On 28 December 2017, the Ministry of Health of South Sudan reported a cluster of three severe hemorrhagic cases, which were epidemiologically linked by place (all occurred in Thonabutkok village, Yirol East County) and time (all in Dec. 2017). Goats, sheep, and cattle in the area also showed evidence of zoonotic hemorrhagic illness.
On 19 January 2018, a joint Ministry of Health/WHO rapid response team arrived in Yirol East and have investigated the two most recent suspect cases, collected and shipped samples to Uganda Viral Research Institute (UVRI) for testing, and discussed the establishment of a mechanism for case investigation and sample collection with the State Minister of Health and partners. They also trained teams in active case finding and trained 15 local healthcare workers in RVF case management.
