‘Watery diarrhoea’ hits hundreds in Sudan’s White Nile

Hundreds of people in the area of Um Jar in White Nile State are suffering from ‘watery diarrhoea’.
Mohamed Idris, Coordinator at the Um Jar Health Centre told Radio Dabanga that about 900 people in the area are stricken by ‘watery diarrhoea’. “Luckily, the disease did not cause any deaths so far.”
He added that “The centre is in dire need of Flagyl drips and Sandostatin injections. The medicines would be too expensive for many patients though, as one drip dose or injection cost SDG50 ($7).”
The most affected villages are Arafa, Andalus, Mabrouka, and El Hasnab.

Hundreds of people in the area of Um Jar in White Nile State are suffering from ‘watery diarrhoea’.

Mohamed Idris, Coordinator at the Um Jar Health Centre told Radio Dabanga that about 900 people in the area are stricken by ‘watery diarrhoea’.

“Luckily, the disease did not cause any deaths so far,” he said. “The centre is in dire need of Flagyl drips and Sandostatin injections. The medicines would be too expensive for many patients though, as one drip dose or an injection cost SDG50 ($7).”

The most affected villages are Arafa, Andalus, Mabrouka, and El Hasnab.

The White Nile State Minister of Health, Tarig Omar Bureiga, attributed the disease to the people’s drinking polluted water from the canals linked with the While Nile.

Cholera

Since September last year, people in eastern and central Sudan report cases of ‘watery diarrhoea’. Medics in the capital Khartoum and Sudanese specialists abroad have confirmed that the disease concerns cholera. The Sudanese authorities however, have instructed all medics and health workers to mention watery diarrhoea only.

Earlier this month, a journalist was detained in El Gedaref in eastern Sudan for reporting about cholera.