Darfur dengue outbreak may be stabilising

There is a 'significant drop' in the number of fatal dengue cases since the outbreak erupted four months ago, according to aid organisations in Sudan.

The cumulative number of suspected dengue fever cases reported throughout Sudan since the beginning of the outbreak in August 2015 to last week stands at 573 cases, including 104 deaths.

According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, there is a 19 percent drop in the number of 'case fatality rate' since the beginning of the outbreak four months ago. Compared to the 54 percent of fatal cases from the beginning of the outbreak, the drop is significant enough to report the stabilisation of the disease in OCHA's latest weekly bulletin.

Darfur is still the most affected region, accounting for 92 percent of all reported cases (521 cases) and 95 percent of deaths (99 death). South Kordofan reported so far 46 cases and 4 deaths, and Kassala 6 cases and 1 death. Within Darfur, West Darfur State has two out of every three reported cases.

The Sudanese Ministry of Health dispatched medical teams to the region and provided technical support. The Health Minister in West Darfur already attributed a decrease in the number of reported infections to an intensive spraying campaign against mosquitoes in November. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), dengue is a mosquito-borne viral infection causing in most of the cases a flu-like illness, and sometimes can cause severe haemorrhagic symptoms with potentially lethal outcome, called severe dengue.