Sudan Battles Deadliest Cholera Outbreak in Years

(MENAFN) Sudan is facing its most lethal cholera outbreak in years, with close to 100,000 suspected infections and more than 2,470 deaths reported since August 2024, Doctors Without Borders (MSF) said on Thursday.

The country’s Health Ministry declared the outbreak earlier this year, but the situation has sharply deteriorated, particularly in Darfur. In just one week, MSF teams treated over 2,300 patients and confirmed 40 deaths at health facilities managed by the ministry.

Conditions are especially critical in Tawila, North Darfur, where approximately 380,000 people have sought refuge from the escalating conflict near Al Fasher, MSF reported.

A treatment center in Tawila originally designed to hold 130 patients was stretched to house more than 400 in early August, forcing medical staff to lay mattresses on the ground to accommodate the overflow.

Amidst the crisis, access to clean water remains dangerously low. People in the camps receive around three liters of water per person per day—less than half the World Health Organization’s emergency threshold of 7.5 liters. This shortfall has pushed many to rely on unsafe sources.

“In displacement and refugee camps, families often have no choice but to drink from unsafe sources,” said Sylvain Penicaud, MSF's project coordinator in Tawila.

"Just two weeks ago, a body was found in a well inside one camp. Within two days, people had to drink from it again."

The outbreak is rapidly advancing across the Darfur region, with confirmed cases emerging in Central Darfur’s Golo, Zalingei, and Rokero, as well as Sortony in North Darfur. In Golo, MSF reported that 137 patients arrived in a single day, overwhelming a treatment facility with just 73 beds.

The situation has been exacerbated by intense seasonal rains, which have contaminated water supplies and damaged already fragile sewage systems.

In South Darfur’s Nyala, where the number of cholera cases is climbing, MSF has expanded its treatment center to 80 beds. However, the group warns that critical supplies—including vaccines and water purification tablets—are still lacking.

The cholera epidemic is now extending beyond Sudan’s borders, with confirmed spread into neighboring Chad and South Sudan.

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