Sudan is facing its worst cholera outbreak in years, with nearly 100,000 suspected cases and more than 2,470 deaths since August 2024, Doctors Without Borders (MSF) said Thursday.
The outbreak, declared by Sudan’s Health Ministry last year, has surged in recent weeks, hitting Darfur hardest. In one week alone, MSF-treated facilities in Darfur saw over 2,300 patients and 40 deaths.
In Tawila, North Darfur, where around 380,000 displaced people have fled fighting near El Fasher, a cholera center built for 130 beds was forced to hold 400 patients earlier this month, with mattresses laid on the floor.
Residents there survive on an average of three liters of water a day — less than half the WHO’s emergency minimum — forcing many to drink from contaminated sources. “Just two weeks ago, a body was found in a well inside one camp. Within two days, people had to drink from it again,” said MSF’s Sylvain Penicaud.
Cases are spreading across Central and North Darfur, as well as into Chad and South Sudan. Heavy rains have contaminated water supplies and damaged sewage systems, worsening the crisis. In Nyala, South Darfur, MSF has expanded its center to 80 beds but faces vaccine delays and shortages of purification tablets.
In Blue Nile state’s Damazin, MSF increased cholera beds from 50 to 250 in July to handle returnees from South Sudan, many also suffering acute malnutrition.
“The situation is beyond urgent,” said MSF’s head of mission Tuna Turkmen, urging immediate scale-up of health care, clean water access, and mass vaccination campaigns in coordination with Sudan’s Health Ministry, UNICEF, and WHO.
