Sudan is facing its second consecutive year of a cholera outbreak, with at least 28 deaths reported in the past month, as heavy rains flood areas filled with war-displaced civilians, officials stated.
WHO country director Shible Sahbani revealed that since the latest surge began on July 22, there have been 658 recorded cholera cases across five states.
Sudan’s collapsing health system and widespread displacement have pushed the cholera death rate to an unusually high 4.3%, according to Sahbani.
He noted that approximately 200,000 people are at severe risk of infection.
The war between Sudan’s army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) continues to drive one of the world’s largest humanitarian disasters, with over 10 million displaced both inside and outside the country.
The country is currently grappling with five simultaneous disease outbreaks, including dengue fever and measles.
The RSF has seized control of large portions of the country, leaving many cut off from aid as the army blocks access and RSF forces loot supplies and hospitals.
Aid efforts in Darfur have been further hindered by rains. International experts have confirmed famine conditions in Darfur’s Zamzam camp, which has been hit by floods and is highly vulnerable to cholera.
Health Minister Haitham Mohamed Ibrahim reported that during the previous cholera wave between October 2023 and May 2024, around 12,000 cases and over 350 deaths occurred, following nearly a decade without a major outbreak before the war.
The current outbreak is concentrated in Kassala and Gedaref states, home to 1.2 million displaced people.
In Gedaref, a Reuters reporter observed pools of stagnant rainwater mixed with refuse, drawing insects.
A local official noted that the majority of illnesses are caused by insects, poor water quality, and inadequate sewage systems.
Thousands fleeing RSF raids seek refuge in overcrowded, makeshift shelters, where overflowing latrines have worsened with heavy rainfall.
Cholera, spread through food and water tainted with infected feces, flourishes in such conditions.
WHO country director Shible Sahbani noted that cholera cases have also surfaced in RSF-controlled states like Khartoum and Gezira, with potential outbreaks looming in Kordofan and Darfur.
Sahbani highlighted the difficulty of delivering supplies, citing unusable roads due to heavy rains, along with security and bureaucratic obstacles.
On Friday, he announced that the International Coordinated Group for vaccine allocation (ICG) approved the delivery of 455,000 cholera vaccine doses to Sudan, calling it “good news in the middle of this horrible crisis.
” Health Minister Ibrahim noted that the army-aligned government has employed “unorthodox measures,” including air drops, to supply vaccines and aid to RSF-controlled and isolated army-controlled areas.
Sahbani and Ibrahim stressed that the aid provided falls short of the immense need, with the U.N.’s humanitarian appeal for Sudan funded at only about one-third.
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