UN warns cholera outbreak in Sudan worsening as fighting continues

A cholera outbreak that began in the middle of last year continues to claim lives across Sudan, with the World Health Organization sounding the alarm.

The Federal Ministry of Health earlier this week reported 120,496 cases and 3,368 deaths nationwide.

On Wednesday, the WHO warned that at 2,8 per cent, the fatality rate is nearly three times the emergency threshold.

This, it said, signals that the cholera outbreak is spiralling beyond control and requires an immediate scale-up of response efforts.

Conflict, displacement, and heavy rains continue to hamper efforts to prevent the rapid spread of the bacterial disease .

Usually transmitted through contaminated food or water, it can kill within hours if left untreated.

But as the war in Sudan rages on, millions across the country are struggling to access clean water, sanitation, and healthcare.

This is leaving them increasingly vulnerable to preventable illness like cholera and dengue fever.

The more than two-year-long conflict between Sudan's army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces has created the world's worst humanitarian crisis and spread famine.

It shows no signs of slowing despite the fact that the army has recaptured the capital, Khartoum, and other parts of the country.