(Geneva) More than 455,000 additional doses of vaccines will be sent to Sudan to help the country cope with a new cholera outbreak, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Friday.
“The first wave of cholera ended last May, with more than 11,300 cases and more than 300 deaths. And now we are seeing a second wave of cholera, which was declared on 12 August,” said WHO Representative for Sudan Dr.r Shible Sahbani, during a regular press briefing of UN agencies.
“Officially, the first case was reported on July 22,” he said, while recalling that Sudan, which has been in the grip of a civil war for more than a year, must face many other diseases, including measles, dengue fever and malaria.
Cholera is an acute diarrheal infection caused by eating or drinking food or water contaminated with the bacterium Vibrio cholerae. The disease causes diarrhea and severe dehydration, which can lead to death within hours.
According to WHO, 658 cases and 28 deaths have been reported so far in five states, with a “high” case fatality rate of 4.3%.
Of the five states, Kassala, near Eritrea, recorded the highest number of cases (473), followed by Gedaref, al-Jazeera, Khartoum and River Nile states.
A three-day oral cholera vaccination campaign ended on Thursday in two localities in Kassala State. According to Dr.r Sahbani, 51,000 doses of oral cholera vaccines were thus able to be deployed.
“And here I have good news,” because more than 455,000 additional doses “will be brought into the country and used to fight cholera,” he said, adding that the delivery of the doses should be done from Port Sudan and should therefore be less difficult than delivering aid to other parts of the country that are more difficult to access.
Since April 2023, the war has pitted the army, led by General Abdel Fattah al-Burhane, against the paramilitaries of the Rapid Support Forces (FSR) of his former deputy, General Mohamed Hamdane Daglo.
The conflict has pushed the country to the brink of famine, and aid agencies say insecurity and bureaucratic measures are hampering the delivery of humanitarian aid, a task made even more difficult by flooding and poor roads.