Death toll rises in Sudan cholera and dengue outbreak

Sudan’s Red Sea and El Gedaref states report a steady increase in cases of cholera as the seasonal outbreak of disease takes hold. Five patients died.

Tokar Hospital in Port Sudan, capital of Red Sea state, recorded three deaths from cholera on Saturday and Sunday, bringing the total number of deaths to five since the disease appeared two weeks ago. As previously reported by Radio Dabanga, the Ministry of Health in Red Sea state has recorded 249 suspected cases of cholera, including 186 confirmed cases.

Haj Ira, administrative director of Tokar Hospital, confirmed to Radio Dabanga that the cholera isolation ward recorded five deaths during the past two days. He attributes the outbreak to the environment which has left standing water following heavy rains during the past two weeks.

In the city of Port Sudan, five people died of cholera in the El Mirghaniyah neighbourhood. Eisa Hashim, head of the committee for changing services in the neighbourhood, told Radio Dabanga that the area is witnessing a major outbreak of the disease, with some patients in critical condition.

At least 44 people have died of cholera in El Gedaref, where 1,673 cases have been reported. Deteriorating environmental conditions have seen cases of dengue fever cases reach 3,241, including 35 deaths. A Radio Dabanga correspondent reported that that a new case of cholera was recorded among the displaced people in El Jabarab shelter centre on Monday “due to horrific deterioration of the environment which promotes flies”.

He pointed out that the most affected areas are the neighbourhoods of Riyadh, El Matar, Digna, Doubna, El Tadamon and El Baga in El Gedaref city. He explained that “there are interventions from multiple parties, but they are below the required level”.

As previously reported by Radio Dabanga, 2.2 million cholera and 7.5 million measles-rubella vaccines were airlifted to Port Sudan for distribution two weeks ago to combat disease outbreaks across Sudan.

The Ministry of Health in El Gezira State announced the registration of 1,060 suspected cases of cholera, including 21 deaths during the period from October 9 to November 24.

Outbreak

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) says 3.1 million people in Sudan are at risk of cholera in eight states between July and December.

In a report last week, OCHA confirmed that Sudan officially declared a cholera outbreak in El Gedaref on September 26. As of November 9, at least 2,525 suspected cases of cholera, including 78 associated deaths, have been reported in 27 localities in six states – El Gedaref, Kassala, Khartoum, El Gezira, Sennar, and South Kordofan.

State health ministries in Sudan are calling on the public to take measures to curtail the spread of cholera, urging them to empty, wash, and dry all water tanks and containers, and leave them exposed to the sun for three days, and also to prevent standing water against the proliferation of mosquitoes, the main vectors for dengue fever and malaria. The medical response across the country is dramatically curtailed because of the ongoing war.