Port Sudan, Sudan — A cholera outbreak in Sudan’s war-ravaged capital has claimed 70 lives in two days, health officials said Thursday, as Khartoum faces a mounting health emergency after more than two years of brutal conflict.
The health ministry for Khartoum state said it recorded 942 new infections and 25 deaths on Wednesday, following 1,177 cases and 45 deaths on Tuesday.
The surge in infections comes weeks after drone strikes blamed on the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces knocked out water and electricity supplies across the capital.
The city has been a battleground throughout two years of war between the Sudanese army and the RSF.
The army-backed government announced last week that it had dislodged RSF fighters from their last bases in Khartoum state two months after retaking the heart of the capital from the paramilitaries.
Khartoum remains devastated with health and sanitation infrastructure barely functioning.
Up to 90 per cent of hospitals in the conflict’s main battlegrounds have been forced out of service by the fighting.
The cholera outbreak has piled further pressure on the healthcare system.
The federal health ministry reported 172 deaths in the week to Tuesday, 90 per cent of them in Khartoum state.
Authorities say 89 per cent of patients in isolation centres are recovering, but warn that deteriorating environmental conditions are driving a surge in cases.
UN chief Antonio Guterres’s spokesman said Thursday cholera vaccinations have begun in Jebel Awila, the hardest hit district in Khartoum.
“The World Health Organization has also delivered more 22 metric tons of cholera and emergency health supplies to respond to local efforts,” Stephane Dujarric said.
‘On the brink’
UN humanitarian agency OCHA noted “significant discrepancies” in official data, “making it difficult to assess the true scale of the outbreak”.
Cholera is endemic to Sudan, but outbreaks have become worse and more frequent since the war broke out.
Since August 2024, health authorities have recorded more than 65,000 cases and over 1,700 deaths across 12 of Sudan’s 18 states.
Khartoum state alone has seen more than 7,700 cases, upwards of 1,000 in children under five, and 185 deaths since January.
“Sudan is on the brink of a full-scale public health disaster,” said Eatizaz Yousif, the International Rescue Committee’s Sudan director.
“The combination of conflict, displacement, destroyed critical infrastructure and limited access to clean water is fueling the resurgence of cholera and other deadly diseases.”
Aid agencies warn that without urgent action, the spread of disease is likely to worsen with the arrival of the rainy season next month, which severely limits humanitarian access.
The war between the paramilitaries and the regular army has killed tens of thousands of people and displaced 13 million since it erupted in April 2023.
At least three million people fled Khartoum state alone, but more than 34,000 have returned since its recapture by the army in recent months, according to UN figures.
Most have returned to find their homes devastated by the fighting, with no access to clean water or basic services.
According to the UN children’s agency UNICEF, more than one million children are at risk in cholera-affected areas of Khartoum.
