“Cholera is back and affects several statesmainly in the western part of the country, Darfur and Kordofans,” said Dr. Shible Sahbani, representative of the United Nations World Health Organization (WHO) in Sudan.
Speaking to reporters in Geneva, the official reported more than 1,330 confirmed cases and 114 deaths from the disease, which is preventable but can be fatal if not treated quickly.
Why it matters
- So far, 114 deaths confirmed from highly contagious cholera
- Conflict still blocks health care and life-saving aid
- The rainy season risks worsening the epidemic
- Millions of people still displaced and very vulnerable
The true death toll is likely much higher and humanitarian agencies are deeply concerned about the possibility of the disease spreading among the hundreds of thousands of people who have fled North Kordofan’s towns and rural areas.
The central Sudanese state is the epicenter of fighting between former allies the Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).
Vulnerable to disease
The case fatality rate for cholera is already “extremely high” at 13.7 percent and is expected to worsen with the arrival of the next rainy season, Dr Sahbani said.
Sudan is the world’s largest humanitarian crisis, with more than 33 million people in need; this includes 21 million people who need health services. Since the start of the war on April 15, 2023, at least 59,000 people have been killed.
Although some people have returned to states “where the situation is improving”, including the capital Khartoum, Dr Sahbani highlighted that 13.4 million people remain displaced; nine million in Sudan and 4.6 million in neighboring countries. Besides cholera, existing epidemics include dengue, malaria, meningitis, hepatitis E and measles.
“We are particularly concerned about the spread [of cholera] “Health facilities there are overwhelmed and access to care is very, very limited,” said the WHO representative in El-Obeid, in North Kordofan, where access is very limited and the fragile health system is increasingly under strain.
Call for help
The agency has prepositioned enough health supplies for more than 25,000 people in El-Obeid “but I can admit that it is not enough,” Dr. Sahbani said. On Monday, WHO delivered 8.5 tonnes of medical supplies to Kadugli and Dilling in South Kordofan as part of an inter-agency convoy.
This was the first WHO shipment to reach Kadugli since December 2024 due to access blockages.
Dr Sahbani echoed UN human rights chief Volker Türk’s recent calls for the international community to prevent further atrocities in El-Obeid and a repeat of the massacres in El Fasher when RSF forces entered the town last October.
“We are calling on our partners and donors to help us, first to access and then to send enough supplies and facilities to El-Obeid. But we know that the situation there is very, very bad and getting worse with a higher risk of epidemics, malnutrition, violence, including violence against women and children.”
