Over 100 dead from cholera, dengue in war-torn Sudan

Scanning electron microscope image of Vibrio cholerae. Credit: Wikipedia

Outbreaks of cholera and dengue fever in war-torn Sudan have left more than 100 people dead since August, the health ministry said on Saturday.

A total of 1,049 cases of cholera, 73 of them fatal, were recorded in Khartoum, Al-Jazira state to its south and Gedaref state to the its west, the ministry said.

Khartoum has been one of the main battlegrounds in the fighting between rival generals that has gripped the country since April.

Hundreds of thousands of residents of greater Khartoum have fled to calmer areas of Gedaref and Al-Jazira, overwhelming the supply of clean water.

Nine Sudanese states have recorded cases of mosquito-borne dengue, with 49 deaths from a total of 3,316 cases, the ministry said.

Gedaref state, which borders Ethiopia, reported 2,152 of the cases and 33 of the deaths.

Even before the fighting broke out in April, Sudan’s health care system struggled to contain the disease outbreaks that accompany the country’s rainy season which begins in June.

Now—with hospitals bombed, medicines running low and many doctors fleeing the country—the health care system has been pushed to the brink.

The health ministry report said 70 percent of hospitals in war-torn areas are out of service.

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