Sudan has been severely affected by a cholera outbreak that has claimed nearly two dozen lives and sickened more than 300 people in recent weeks, according to health authorities. Health Minister Haitham Mohamed Ibrahim confirmed on Sunday that at least 22 individuals have died from the disease, with 354 confirmed cases of cholera reported in the war-torn country.
Minister Ibrahim declared a cholera epidemic in Sudan on Saturday, noting that the outbreak is attributed to both weather conditions and contaminated drinking water. The decision to declare the epidemic was made in collaboration with authorities in the eastern state of Kassala, United Nations agencies, and experts, following the identification of the cholera virus by a public health laboratory.
Margaret Harris, an official from the World Health Organization (WHO), stated at a press conference on Friday that a total of 11,327 cholera cases and 316 deaths have been reported in Sudan to date. “We expect to see more cases than those already reported,” she added.
Cholera is a rapidly developing and highly contagious infection that causes diarrhea, which can lead to severe dehydration and potential death within hours if not treated. The disease is transmitted through the consumption of contaminated food or water, and young children under the age of five are particularly at risk.
This outbreak is not unprecedented in Sudan. A previous major outbreak in 2017 resulted in at least 700 deaths and around 22,000 illnesses within a span of less than two months. Additionally, the devastating seasonal floods in recent weeks have exacerbated the suffering, with severely damaged infrastructure reported in 12 of Sudan’s 18 provinces. According to the UN Migration Agency, approximately 118,000 people have been displaced due to flooding.
The situation is further complicated by the civil war that broke out in April last year when tensions between the military and a powerful paramilitary group escalated into open conflict. The Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF), led by Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), under Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, commonly known as “Hemedti,” are fighting for control of the country, which has a population of 46 million people.
The conflict has turned the capital Khartoum and other urban areas into battlegrounds, destroying civilian infrastructure and placing immense pressure on an already strained healthcare system. Many hospitals and health facilities have had to close, while the war has claimed thousands of lives, displaced over 10.7 million people, and plunged many into famine, with hunger already confirmed in an extensive camp for displaced persons in the devastated northern region of Darfur.
A new round of negotiations aimed at ending the 16-month-long conflict in Sudan will commence on Wednesday in Switzerland, despite the absence of military representatives. The United States, Saudi Arabia, Switzerland, the African Union, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, and the UN are working to bring the Sudanese military and RSF to the negotiating table for a ceasefire agreement.
On Sunday, Sudan’s military-led Sovereign Council announced that they would send a government delegation to meet with U.S. officials in Cairo, amid increasing pressure from the U.S. for the military to participate in the ongoing ceasefire negotiations in Switzerland.