Measles outbreak ravages children in Darfur’s Jebel Marra, dengue fever, malaria emerge in Sudan capital

The emergency room in Golo, in Rokuro locality, Central Darfur, says a renewed outbreak of measles in a number of villages in Jebel Marra, where the Burgo area and neighbouring villages recorded more than 300 cases and six deaths during the past two days.

The emergency room team in Golo confirmed that the majority of those infected were children who had not received vaccination doses since childhood, and the room issued an urgent appeal to all concerned parties for immediate intervention.

Renewed outbreaks

The outbreak of epidemics in Sudan has resumed after a period of decline, with 2,576 cases of malaria recorded, along with 211 new cases of dengue fever in the cities of Khartoum and Omdurman, and 39 deaths in the capital as a result of dengue fever. Statistics showed that the most vulnerable groups were the most affected, with 22 deaths recorded among women and six among children, amid a severe and terrible shortage of medicines and basic medical supplies.

Dr Adiba Ibrahim El Sayed, a member of the preparatory committee for the Sudanese Doctors Syndicate and a specialist in internal medicine and epidemiology, told Radio Dabanga that the outbreak of dengue fever and malaria is due to the complete collapse of the environmental infrastructure, where accumulated waste, sewage overflows, and stagnant pools have turned into ideal breeding grounds for disease-carrying mosquitoes.

She said that with the onset of winter and the decline in the number of functioning health centres, concerns are growing about the worsening health situation, especially in displacement camps, in light of food shortages and weakened immunity. El Sayed appealed to the health authorities to officially declare the outbreak, which would allow international organizations and donors to provide urgent support.

A call for an urgent government response

El Sayed stressed the need for an urgent government response focused on environmental health and environmental improvement, along with full transparency in informing the public about treatment areas and methods of prevention. She called for strengthening institutional work through the formation of a national high committee with a unified protocol for diagnosis and supply, and providing logistical support by rehabilitating the disabled laboratories and empowering the resilient medical staff.

She said that the real suffering lies in the severe shortage of malaria and dengue fever medicines, stressing that these diseases are not inherently deadly and should not lead to deaths if the environment is healthy and medicines are available, but these medicines have become non-existent even in the parallel market “black market”.

Accordingly, El Sayed renewed the call to the Ministry of Health and to all international and health organizations to draw attention to the increasing outbreak of these diseases.

Concerns about the consequences of rat deaths

She also pointed to the recent spread of the rat death phenomenon, which moved from Khashm El Sirba in Kassala State to the vicinity of the Atbara River, warning of the possibility of an outbreak of the “deadly” plague epidemic. She said that it had even reached areas in El Gedaref state, considering this case to be rare and dangerous.

The epidemiologist explained that all these conditions suggest the effects of the devastating war and the ongoing famine, as the outbreak of diseases, the multiplicity of epidemics, the appearance of skin rashes, and the spread of deadly viruses have exacerbated the health situation.

She stated that these viruses, upon entering the human body, cause serious illnesses, including the plague—may God protect us—and other diseases. They also transmit numerous epidemics, posing a significant threat to public health and the agricultural sector. She emphasized that all of this stems primarily from the ongoing war.

El Sayed renewed her appeal to all Sudanese and the people of Sudan to exert all possible efforts to stop this “deadly war” by all known means, in light of the lack of response from the two sides of the conflict to the current “dire humanitarian” situation.

She also appealed to the international community to respond to the demands of the Sudanese people and to pressure the parties to the conflict by all possible means to stop the war and put an end to the “horrific humanitarian situation” and the deadly diseases resulting from the lack of prevention and the continuation of the all-out war that has destroyed everything.