The Sudanese Ministry of Health announced on Saturday evening that it has recorded 1,351 cholera cases, including 58 deaths, over a period of three days in the city of Kosti, located in White Nile state in southern Sudan.
اضافة اعلان
In a statement, the ministry reported a rapid spread of the cholera epidemic in Kosti, with the total number of cases reaching 1,351, including 58 deaths over three days.
The ministry stated that the main cause of the outbreak is contaminated drinking water, due to the shutdown of the main water station in Kosti after the Rapid Support Forces targeted the Umm Dabbakir power station in White Nile state.
The ministry also mentioned that the government's swift response played a significant role in reducing the rate of increase in cases.
Key interventions included restarting the main water station in Kosti, conducting a vaccination campaign in response to the cholera outbreak, securing intravenous fluids, and increasing the bed capacity at the isolation center.
Additionally, the Public Health Emergency Law was activated, closing markets, schools, and commercial establishments, along with environmental sanitation campaigns and the enforcement of health and safety precautions.
Earlier on Saturday, the Sudanese Doctors' Network (an NGO) reported 1,197 cholera cases, including 83 deaths, in White Nile state over the past two days.
Doctors Without Borders also stated that dozens had died and over 800 people were receiving treatment for severe watery diarrhea and dehydration at the Ministry of Health's cholera treatment center at Kosti Teaching Hospital.
Meanwhile, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) announced on Friday the registration of hundreds of cholera cases in White Nile state, posing a major risk to children and their families.
On Thursday, the Sudanese Doctors’ Syndicate reported more than 600 cases of watery diarrhea, most of which were cholera, at Kosti and Rabak government hospitals in White Nile state.
Local media, including Sudan Tribune, reported on Thursday that cholera was spreading rapidly in Kosti due to contaminated water from the shutdown of most of the region's water stations.
The reports indicated that on February 16, the Rapid Support Forces attacked the Umm Dabbakir power station, which disrupted the electricity supply to Kosti and the rest of White Nile state, leading to the shutdown of water stations.
In the latest statistics from the Sudanese Ministry of Health on Tuesday, the total number of cholera cases since the start of the epidemic in August 2024 reached 53,735, with 1,430 deaths.
This health crisis is coinciding with a war between the Sudanese army and the Rapid Support Forces that began in April 2023, leaving over 20,000 dead and nearly 15 million displaced, according to the United Nations and local authorities. Some studies from U.S. universities estimate the death toll to be around 130,000.
In recent days, the territory controlled by the Rapid Support Forces has been shrinking, with the army gaining ground in the central states (Khartoum and Al-Jazeera) and southern states (White Nile and North Kordofan), while the Rapid Support Forces maintain control over four states in Darfur. The war has not yet reached northern and eastern Sudan.
In Khartoum, which consists of three cities, the army controls 90% of "Bahri" city in the north, most of "Omdurman" city in the west, and 60% of central "Khartoum," which houses the presidential palace and international airport, and these sites are almost surrounded by army forces. The Rapid Support Forces still control the eastern and southern neighborhoods of Khartoum.
