A cholera outbreak has claimed the lives of over 170 people across Sudan in just one week, as the country’s health system continues to collapse under the weight of a prolonged civil war.
Sudan’s health ministry reported more than 2,700 new infections and 172 deaths within the past week, with 90 percent of cases recorded in Khartoum state.
In recent weeks, Khartoum has suffered major disruptions to water and electricity supplies following drone strikes attributed to the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), which have been engaged in conflict with the Sudanese army since April 2023.
Cases of cholera have also emerged in the southern, central, and northern regions of the country.
Cholera is endemic to Sudan, but outbreaks have intensified since the war began, devastating already fragile water, sanitation, and healthcare infrastructure. The ministry had previously recorded 51 deaths and over 2,300 infections in a three-week period, also largely concentrated in Khartoum.
Earlier this month, the RSF reportedly launched drone attacks across Khartoum, targeting three power stations before being pushed out of their remaining strongholds in the city. These attacks crippled the capital’s electricity grid, leaving water treatment facilities non-functional and forcing residents to rely on contaminated sources.
“Water treatment stations no longer have electricity and cannot provide clean water from the Nile,” said Slaymen Ammar, medical coordinator for Doctors Without Borders (MSF) in Khartoum.
Bashir Mohamed, a resident of Omdurman—a city within greater Khartoum—said his family has been without electricity for nearly two weeks. “We now fetch water directly from the Nile, buying it from donkey carts that bring it in barrels,” he said.
At Al-Nao Hospital in Omdurman, one of the few health facilities still operational, a doctor said residents have resorted to drinking untreated Nile water due to the shutdown of pumping stations. This, he noted, is the primary driver of the outbreak’s rapid spread.
Medical staff are overwhelmed, with some patients lying on hospital floors due to the lack of space and personnel. The local emergency response room has issued an urgent call for volunteer support.
“The number of patients exceeds the hospital’s capacity,” said one emergency worker, who spoke anonymously. “There are not enough medical staff. Some patients are lying on the floors in hospital corridors.”
Cholera, a severe diarrhea illness caused by ingesting contaminated water or food, can be fatal within hours if left untreated. Despite this, it is easily preventable and curable when clean water, sanitation, and medical care are accessible.
The World Health Organisation has warned that Sudan’s healthcare system has been pushed to the brink. The doctors’ union estimates that up to 90 percent of the country’s hospitals have been forced to shut down at some point due to the conflict, with many being looted, bombed, or occupied.
Now entering its third year, Sudan’s civil war has killed tens of thousands, displaced 13 million people, and created the largest displacement and hunger crisis in the world.
