The World Health Organization (WHO) warned Friday that Sudan’s escalating cholera outbreak may soon spill into neighbouring Chad, where hundreds of thousands of war-displaced refugees face dire, overcrowded conditions.
The warning comes as Sudan’s civil war, now in its third year, devastates health infrastructure and drives up infections amid power outages and water shortages in Khartoum.
Cholera has already spread to 13 of Sudan’s 18 states, including North and South Darfur, which share porous borders with Chad.
Dr Shible Sahbani, WHO’s representative in Sudan, reported 1,854 cholera-related deaths so far and warned the rainy season could accelerate the crisis.
“If we don’t urgently invest in prevention, vaccination, and public education, the outbreak may engulf neighbouring countries and the wider region,” he said via video from Port Sudan.
He urged for humanitarian corridors and ceasefires to allow lifesaving campaigns against cholera, dengue, and malaria.
Cholera spreads rapidly in environments with poor sanitation and contaminated water, making refugee camps particularly vulnerable.
In Chad, around 300,000 Sudanese refugees are stranded in makeshift camps near the border, many of them survivors of attacks in Darfur.
“The conditions are overcrowded and unsanitary—if cholera breaks out here, it will be catastrophic,” said Francois Batalingaya, the U.N. Humanitarian Coordinator in Chad.
Though no cases have yet been confirmed in Chad, WHO said suspected cases have emerged in Geneina, Sudan, just 10 kilometres from the border.
Sahbani added that weak disease surveillance along the Libyan frontier also poses a serious risk of cross-border spread.
A vaccination drive in Khartoum has recently helped reduce fatality rates, offering a glimmer of hope amid an expanding health emergency.
