Sudan's Health Ministry: Over 100 Killed by Cholera, Dengue Fever

Map showing Sudan's capital, Khartoum.

WAD MADANI — Sudan's health ministry Saturday said outbreaks of cholera and dengue fever have killed over 100 people since August, in the conflict-stricken nation.

Sudan's health ministry says a total of 1,049 cases of cholera, 73 of them fatal, were recorded in the capital, Khartoum, in Al-Jazira state to its south, and Gedaref state to the west.

Khartoum has been one of the main battlegrounds in the fighting that started in April between the Sudanese Armed Forces, SAF, and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, RSF.

Clean water supplies in Gedaref and Al-Jazira have been overwhelmed after hundreds of thousands of residents of greater Khartoum have fled towards the areas in pursuit of security.

The Northeast African nation's health ministry said nine of its states have recorded cases of mosquito-borne dengue, with 49 deaths from a total of 3,316 cases.

Gedaref state, which borders Ethiopia, reported 2,152 of the cases and 33 of the deaths.

Even before the fighting broke out in April,Sudan's healthcare system struggled to contain the disease outbreaks that accompany the nation's rainy season which begins in June.

Now — with hospitals bombed, medicines running low and many doctors fleeing the country — the healthcare system has been pushed to the brink.

The health ministry's report said 70 % of hospitals in war-torn areas are out of service.