At least 40 dead in Sudan’s worst cholera outbreak in years
TAWILA, Sudan (AFP)—Cholera has claimed at least 40 lives in Sudan’s Darfur region over the last week as the country weathers its worst outbreak of in years, Doctors Without Borders (MSF) said on Thursday.
At a cholera isolation tent at a Sudanese displacement camp, an AFP journalist saw women and a young girl receiving intravenous fluids, while exhausted and weak patients sprawled on camp beds.
Citing rising cases of cholera which “exacerbate the worst effects of malnutrition”, the European Union called on all parties to “urgently” allow in international aid.
Medical charity MSF said the vast western region, which has been a major battleground over more than two years of fighting between the regular army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, had been hardest hit by the year-old outbreak.
“On top of an all-out war, people in Sudan are now experiencing the worst cholera outbreak the country has seen in years,” MSF said in a statement.
“In the Darfur region alone, MSF teams treated over 2,300 patients and recorded 40 deaths in the past week.”
The NGO said 2,470 cholera-related deaths had been reported in the year to August 11, out of 99,700 suspected cases.
Cholera is an acute intestinal infection that spreads through food and water contaminated with bacteria, often from faeces.
It causes severe diarrhoea, vomiting and muscle cramps.
Cholera can kill within hours when not attended to, though it can be treated with simple oral rehydration, and antibiotics for more severe cases.
There has been a global increase in cholera cases, which have also spread geographically, since 2021.
MSF said mass displacements of civilians sparked by the war in Sudan had aggravated the outbreak by denying people access to clean water for essential hygiene measures, such as washing dishes and food.
The delivery of humanitarian aid has become almost impossible.
“This cannot continue,” the EU said, in a joint statement with several countries including Britain, Canada and Japan. “Civilians must be protected, and humanitarian access must be granted.”
