Cholera outbreak claims over 150 lives in Sudan’s South Darfur amidst ongoing conflict

At least 158 people have died since late May due to a cholera epidemic in the state of South Darfur in southwestern Sudan, local health authorities announced on Saturday (23/8). 

The crisis is unfolding in a country already gripped by a bloody civil war for over two years, while also facing the risk of famine.

The non-governmental organization Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) warned in the middle of the month that Sudan is facing “the worst cholera epidemic it has experienced in years.”

The Health Ministry of South Darfur state stated in a press release that there has been “an increase in cholera cases, with 2,880 cases, including 158 deaths, since the appearance of the first case of the disease” in late May.

According to the same source, 42 new cases of cholera and two deaths were recorded on Friday (22/8) alone.

Global Rise in Cholera Cases

Cholera is an infection of the gastrointestinal system, transmitted especially through food, water, and feces contaminated with the bacterium Vibrio cholerae. It causes acute diarrhea, vomiting, muscle cramps, and dehydration and can lead to the death of the patient in a matter of hours if antibiotics are not administered and if rehydration does not occur as soon as possible. It is extremely dangerous for children, especially the youngest ones.

A global increase in cholera cases and the geographical spread of epidemics have been observed since 2021.

The war in Sudan, which has been raging since mid-April 2023 between the regular army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), has crippled the health system, which was already fragile before the conflict, making treatment often impossible.

Since the summer of 2024, around 100,000 cholera cases have been recorded in Sudan, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). Over 2,400 deaths have been recorded during the same period, according to UNICEF.

The situation is described as particularly critical in Darfur, where the population, in addition to the war, is facing a lack of drinking water, basic infrastructure, hygiene measures, and medical care.

Over 50% of cholera deaths in Darfur have been recorded in South Darfur, the WHO stressed on Friday.

The war in Sudan has claimed the lives of tens, if not hundreds, of thousands of people, has uprooted millions of others, turning them into internally displaced persons or refugees, and has plunged Sudan into what the UN describes as the “worst humanitarian crisis in the world.”

Due to the hostilities, the distribution of humanitarian aid is almost impossible.

The U.S. and other countries, including allies of the two warring parties, last week called on the parties to allow “humanitarian pauses” in the fighting, expressing concern that the situation continues to “worsen.”