Two die of haemorrhagic fever in Sennar, 16 RVF cases recorded in Port Sudan

The Sennar Basic Health Care department reported the death of two people suspected to be suffering from haemorrhagic fever last week. At least 16 cases of Rift Valley fever (RVF) were recorded in Red Sea state.

Director of the department Omar Abdelrahman told reporters in Singa, capital of Sennar, on Sunday that of the three patients recorded, one died in the Teaching Hospital of Wad Madani and another died while he was being transferred to Khartoum. The third patient, in El Dindir, is in stable condition.

Director Omar Abdelrahman said that the disease first emerged first in Dababo village in El Dindir with two cases, and the third case appeared in Ombaly village.

He explained that haemorrhagic fever is transmitted to humans through contact with blood or tissues of infected animals*, and called on health centres and hospitals in Sennar to immediately report suspected cases, or when livestock is dying in unusually high numbers.

Rift Valley fever

The El Tagadom Rural Hospital in Port Sudan, capital of Red Sea state, received 16 RVF cases during the past three days, journalist Osman Hashim told Radio Dabanga.

All cases come from the area of Adawi in El Ganeb locality. They were transferred to the El Tagaddum Hospital because there are no health centres able to treat them in the locality.

Sudan has been facing various disease outbreaks in the past months, including cholera, dengue fever, Rift Valley fever (RVF), chikungunya, and malaria, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian affairs (OCHA) reported in its latest Sudan Situation Report on Thursday.

Assault

Hashim further reported that the emergency department of the Port Sudan Teaching Hospital stopped admitting patients since Sunday morning, after an army soldier assaulted the medical director and a guard of the hospital.

“An injured member of the armed forces came to the hospital on Sunday and ignored the patients’ queue at the emergency department,” he explained. “When the medical director intervened, he attacked him, as well as one of the guards.”

The director immediately closed the department, and filed a complaint at the police. He said the work will be resumed after the attacker has been brought to justice.

* Haemorrhagic fevers are severe acute viral infections, usually with a sudden onset of fever, malaise, headache, and myalgia followed by pharyngitis, vomiting, diarrhoea, skin rash, and haemorrhagic manifestations. The outcome is fatal in more than 50 per cent of the cases, the World Health Organisation reports.

Among the fevers recently recorded in Sudan are dengue fever and Rift Valley fever (RVF). Viruses that cause dengue fever are transmitted by mosquitoes. RVF can be acquired either by a mosquito bite or by direct contact with blood or tissues of infected animals (mainly sheep), including consumption of unpasteurised milk.

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