Port Sudan: Spread of ‘deadly diarrhoea’, journalist summoned

People in Port Sudan have expressed concern about a diarrhoea epidemic in the city. On Sunday, security agents summoned a journalist for posting an article on Facebook about the spread of cholera in the Red Sea state capital.

“The diarrhoea has caused several deaths,” an activist told Radio Dabanga. “The hospitals are receiving more and more patients each day.

“Yet the health authorities seem to ignore the epidemic. They have not commented on it, nor have they specified its nature and causes,” he said.

Officers of Sudan’s security apparatus summoned El Amin Sinada, journalist of the Port Sudan newspaper Madinati on Sunday about his Facebook post on the spread of cholera in the city.

Sinada was questioned for four hours about his sources of the information, a colleague of his told this station. He was released after being forced to sign a pledge that he would report to the security office at 10am on Monday.

In September, the number of reports of Sudanese dying of watery diarrhoe began to increase. in particular Blue Nile state was afflicted. Later that month, the federal Ministry of Health reported more than 2,600 cases of watery diarrhoea in the country. The Ministry strongly denied the spread of cholera.