Health authorities in Sudan have launched a 10-day cholera vaccination campaign in Khartoum to curb a rapidly spreading outbreak. Officials began administering vaccines Sunday, targeting over 150,000 residents, including children and displaced families returning home after months of fighting.
The campaign offers relief to residents like Montaser al-Sayed, who feared cholera in chaotic, crowded living conditions, and Razaz Abdullah, a mother relieved by vaccinations. Mercy Corps-Sudan warns the collapsed health system makes cholera difficult to trace or contain, fueling fears of further widespread infections in Khartoum.
Since July 2024, Sudan has reported more than 83,000 cholera cases and 2,100 deaths, with over 32,000 suspected cases recorded this year alone, the U.N. said. The outbreak has spread to remote western regions such as Darfur, where 1,440 suspected cases and 74 deaths have been reported by the health ministry.
Although vaccination campaigns were held last year, ongoing clashes between the Rapid Support Forces and General Abdel Fattah al Burhan’s army have allowed the disease to surge uncontrollably. The civil war, which began in April 2023, has killed more than 40,000 people, displaced around 12 million, and pushed many communities toward famine.
Cholera, caused by the bacterium Vibrio cholerae, spreads where sanitation is poor and clean water scarce, and can kill within hours without treatment. Heavy rains, crowded shelters, and lack of medical access in North Kordofan, White Nile, and River Nile provinces intensify the risk, aid organizations warn.
The World Health Organization has described cholera as a “disease of poverty,” highlighting the urgent need for vaccination, sanitation improvements, and emergency medical support.
