Sudan facing worst cholera outbreak in years amid ongoing war: Doctors Without Borders

ISTANBUL

War-torn Sudan is battling its deadliest cholera outbreak in years, with nearly 100,000 suspected cases and over 2,470 related deaths reported since August last year, Doctors Without Borders (MSF) warned on Thursday.

The outbreak, declared by Sudan’s Health Ministry in 2024, has intensified in recent weeks, particularly in Darfur, where MSF teams treated more than 2,300 patients and recorded 40 deaths in just one week at facilities run by the ministry.

In North Darfur’s Tawila, where some 380,000 people have fled fighting near Al Fasher, conditions are dire, according to a statement from MSF.

The main cholera treatment center, designed for 130 beds, was forced to accommodate 400 patients in early August, with extra mattresses placed on the floor.

Residents survive on an average of three liters of water per day, less than half the World Health Organization’s emergency minimum of 7.5 liters, leaving many dependent on contaminated water sources.

“In displacement and refugee camps, families often have no choice but to drink from unsafe sources,” said Sylvain Penicaud, MSF 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 disease is spreading rapidly across Darfur, with Central Darfur’s Golo, Zalingei, and Rokero and North Darfur’s Sortony all reporting cases.

In Golo, MSF’s 73-bed cholera center was overwhelmed after 137 patients arrived in a single day.

Heavy rains have worsened the crisis, contaminating water and damaging sewage systems.

In South Darfur’s Nyala, where cases are rising, MSF expanded the treatment center to 80 beds but is still awaiting vaccines and facing shortages of water purification tablets.

The outbreak is also spreading to neighboring Chad and South Sudan.

In Blue Nile state’s Damazin, MSF expanded the local cholera facility from 50 to 250 beds in July to treat returnees from South Sudan, with some patients suffering from both cholera and acute malnutrition.

“The situation is beyond urgent,” said Tuna Turkmen, MSF’s head of mission in Sudan.

“Every day of delay costs lives. Survivors of war must not be left to die from a preventable disease.”

MSF called for an immediate scale-up of health care, water and sanitation services, and mass cholera vaccination campaigns across Darfur in coordination with the Health Ministry, UNICEF, and WHO.