Cholera Kills 40 in Sudan as Country Faces Worst Outbreak in Years: MSF

At least 40 people have been killed due to cholera in Sudan’s Darfur region, the Doctors Without Borders (MSF) declared it as the country’s worst outbreak in years.

MSF said that in Darfur alone, its teams treated over 2,300 patients and recorded 40 deaths in the past week. Nationwide, health authorities have reported 99,700 suspected cases and 2,470 deaths linked to cholera since August 2023.

Water crisis worsens health emergency

The bacterial infection, transmitted through contaminated food and water, can be fatal within hours without treatment. Millions displaced by the conflict now face severe shortages of clean water for drinking, cooking and hygiene.

In Tawila, North Darfur, where approximately 380,000 individuals have fled ongoing fighting, residents survive on just three litres of water per day, less than half the emergency minimum of 7.5 litres. MSF staff reported that in some camps, people are forced to drink from contaminated wells, including one where a body was recently found.

Incessant rains have further polluted water sources and damaged sewage systems, while fleeing civilians are carrying the disease into neighbouring Chad and South Sudan.

MSF’s head of mission in Sudan, Tuna Turkmen, warned that the outbreak is spreading beyond displacement camps into multiple localities. “Survivors of war must not be left to die from a preventable disease,” Turkmen said. (Inputs from Al-Jazeera)

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