United Nations, Ramadan 7, 1436, Jun 24, 2015, SPA -- A cholera outbreak is threatening South Sudanese children in the latest crisis to a country suffering from civil conflict and near humanitarian disaster, the U.N. Children's Fund (UNICEF) warned Wednesday. The U.N. agency said 18 people, including two children under age five, already have died from the disease since the first case was reported May 27 in Juba, the capital. Since then, 170 suspected cases have been reported inside a U.N. camp sheltering civilians and in villages across Central Equatorial State. "Up to 5,000 children under [age] five are at risk of dying from cholera unless urgent action is taken to contain this threat," UNICEF country representative Jonathan Veitch warned in a statement. "It is deplorable that such an easily preventable disease could destroy so many young lives," Veitch said. "UNICEF is working with communities and health facilities to prevent further loss of life, but we are running out of funds to stop this." --SPA 21:10 LOCAL TIME 18:10 GMT www.spa.gov.sa/w