Rift Valley fever adds to Sudan’s COVID-19 woes

The federal Ministry of Health in Sudan reported two deaths and five cases of coronavirus in its daily epidemiological report on Wednesday. Doctors have also confirmed the emergence of Rift Valley fever in Northern State.

The ministry said that four of the cases of COVID-19 were registered in Northern State and one in River Nile state. Each of those states recorded one death.

The official ministry figures show the total number of deaths in the country since the start of the pandemic at 2,875, and the total number of cases infected with COVID-19 has reached 38,000, the ministry says.

The Socialist Doctors Association reported that the results of the tests confirmed the emergence of Rift Valley fever in Northern State. The doctors referred to 95 cases among livestock (68 miscarriages and 27 deaths).

The association said in a statement yesterday that there were three suspected cases among the residents of the state, one in Merowe and two from El Gereir. The patient in Merowe suffers from bleeding in the gums and under the skin, as well as a decrease in blood platelets.

The association called on the state and federal health authorities, and the Ministry of Livestock, to intervene urgently, with the need to form a joint mechanism between the two ministries that will enable the transitional government to be aware of its role and responsibilities in the preventive and curative aspect.

Vaccines

As reported by Radio Dabanga this week, the Director of the Immunisation Department of Sudan’s Ministry of Health, Ismail El Adani, says that arrangements have been made to receive and facilitate storage doses of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine, with the installation of refrigerators that can keep the vaccine at the required minus 70 to minus 80 degrees Celsius.

El Adani said during the weekly briefing on Tuesday that the ministry has provided five refrigerators to store the Pfizer vaccine, which is now at the site of UNICEF for preparation. He indicated that the country will have four options for COVID-19 vaccines, namely Pfizer, Johnson & Johnson, AstraZeneca, and Sinopharm