At least 18 persons have died of cholera in South Sudan, the Health Ministry here said Tuesday.

The cholera outbreak is most evident at overcrowded UN bases in Juba to which tens of thousands of displaced nationals fled due to the 18-month civil war, Al Arabiya Al Hadath news channel said Tuesday.

As many as 140 persons had died of the disease in 2014.

South Sudan plunged into chaos in December 2013, when fighting broke out between troops loyal to President Salva Kiir and defectors led by his former deputy and current rebel leader Riek Machar.

The country is also facing a food shortage. In a report published earlier this month, the UN warned that a quarter of a million children face starvation in South Sudan.

“In half of the country, one in three children are acutely malnourished and 250,000 children face starvation,” said Toby Lanzer, the UN humanitarian coordinator in South Sudan.