10 dead as WHO flags Sudan’s West Kordofan ‘latest cholera outbreak hotspot’

At least 10 people have died and more than 40 have been infected with cholera in Sudan’s West Kordofan, according to the Kordofan Human Rights Observatory. The cases were recorded over Sunday and Monday in El Idai locality, as the World Health Organization (WHO) reports more than 2,600 cholera cases across several Sudanese states up to early August. It describes Kordofan as “the latest outbreak hotspot”.

The WHO has also announced a campaign to vaccinate 928,000 people against cholera in West Darfur and West Kordofan.

In West Kordofan, the vaccination campaign is being carried out in the localities of El Nahud, Dibanda, and the state capital El Fula. Preventive vaccination campaigns are also being launched in Kass, in South Darfur, and Tawila, in North Darfur.

Mortada Ahmed, a spokesperson for the Kordofan Human Rights Observatory, tells Radio Dabanga that cholera is spreading widely in El Idai, with the number of cases and deaths expected to rise as the outbreak continues.

He says the area has an almost complete lack of medicines and life-saving medical supplies, particularly intravenous fluids and essential drugs used to treat infected patients.

Large parts of West Kordofan are effectively cut off because of the fighting between the army and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), making it difficult for medical aid, medicines, and food to reach civilians, he says.

Ahmed also warns that environmental deterioration caused by the rainy season, along with increased numbers of mosquitoes and flies and stagnant water, is increasing health risks and contributing to the spread of cholera.

He calls on local, regional, and international humanitarian organisations to put serious pressure on the warring parties to open safe humanitarian corridors for medicines and food to reach affected areas, particularly those experiencing outbreaks.

He describes the situation as “catastrophic and requiring urgent intervention”, warning that any delay in the humanitarian and health response will lead to more infections and deaths.

In a statement issued on Tuesday and seen by Radio Dabanga, the Kordofan Human Rights Observatory says cholera has spread to the areas of Um Jak, Hameer, Um Raqil, and Shaq El Kidad in El Idai locality. It records at least 10 deaths and 40 infections over Sunday and Monday.

The statement says there is an almost complete absence of healthcare and life-saving medicines, including intravenous fluids used to treat acute watery diarrhoea. Humanitarian assistance is also limited because of the war and difficulties reaching the area.

The observatory calls for urgent humanitarian intervention to save lives, and for pressure on the warring parties to open humanitarian routes into Kordofan. It also urges them not to use food and medicines as tools of war.

WHO says more than 2,600 cholera cases have been reported in several states up to early August, with Kordofan now considered the latest outbreak hotspot.

UN spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric says the UN and its partners are intensifying efforts to combat cholera, with health workers continuing to provide treatment, carry out vaccination campaigns, and distribute essential medical supplies.

Note: This report has been translated from Arabic with the assistance of artificial intelligence tools, and subsequently reviewed and adapted by a human editor before publication.