Sudan reports suspected cholera cases in four states as health crisis deepens amid war

Sudan’s Health Ministry said on Tuesday that suspected cholera cases have been detected in four states, underscoring the growing public health emergency in a country grappling with a prolonged civil war and one of the world’s largest humanitarian crises.

The ministry said suspected infections had been recorded in North Kordofan, West Kordofan, South Darfur and Khartoum states following a meeting of the Federal Emergency Operations Center in Khartoum, where officials assessed the country’s disease surveillance and emergency response efforts.

Authorities did not disclose the number of suspected cholera infections or provide details on the severity of the outbreak in the affected regions.

The ministry said suspected measles infections had declined, reporting 25 new suspected cases and no associated deaths during the latest reporting period.

The cholera outbreak has continued to spread across conflict-affected areas, raising concerns among humanitarian agencies struggling to deliver medical assistance to communities cut off by violence and damaged infrastructure.

The World Health Organization (WHO) warned on July 10 that the outbreak was expanding across Sudan’s Darfur and Kordofan regions after at least 114 people died and more than 1,330 cases were reported. The U.N. health agency said the actual number of infections and deaths was likely to be higher because surveillance and reporting have been disrupted by the conflict.

The WHO has described Sudan as the world’s largest humanitarian crisis, saying more than 33 million people require humanitarian assistance. Of those, around 21 million need urgent health services as hospitals, clinics and supply chains have been severely affected by more than three years of fighting.

The agency estimates that about 13.4 million people have been displaced by the conflict, including roughly 9 million internally displaced people and another 4.6 million who have fled to neighboring countries.

Health workers have warned that shortages of clean water, sanitation facilities, medicines and medical personnel are accelerating the spread of preventable diseases such as cholera and measles, particularly in areas where humanitarian access remains limited.

On 5 July, the Sudan Doctors Network said more than 200,000 people, including about 20,000 children, in areas west of Bara in North Kordofan were facing catastrophic humanitarian and health conditions. The group said the cholera and measles outbreaks had been worsened by severe shortages of medicines, food supplies and essential medical services.

Heavy fighting has continued across North, West and South Kordofan, as well as in Darfur, between the Sudanese army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), further complicating relief operations and disease control efforts.

Sudan has been mired in conflict since April 2023, when fighting erupted between the army and the RSF over plans to integrate the paramilitary force into the regular military. The war has killed tens of thousands of people, displaced millions and devastated the country’s healthcare system, leaving millions vulnerable to disease outbreaks and worsening humanitarian conditions.