The worst epidemic of cholera for years left at least 40 dead

At least 40 people died in a week in Darfur, in western Sudan, in the worst epidemic of cholera that this country, plagued by civil war, has known for years, announced on August 14 doctors without borders. In the Darfur region alone, according to the organization, the MSF teams have treated “More than 2,300 patients” suffering from this serious diarrheal disease transmitted by contaminated water and food.

Since July 2024, around 100,000 cases of cholera have been identified across Sudan and the disease has been spread in all states in the country, according to the World Health Organization. According to UNICEF, more than 640,000 children under the age of 5 are now threatened by the disease in the Darfur-Nord alone, where the fighting rages between the Sudanese army and the paramilitaries of the rapid support forces (FSR) for control of the city of El-Fasher.

“Only 3 liters of water per day”

In a country where fights lock up the main axes and paralyze logistics, the routing of humanitarian aid has become almost impossible. The convoys are stopped and the reserves are exhausted. The rainy season, which intensified in August, could worsen the health crisis.

The situation is the most critical in the locality of Tawila, Darfur-Nord, where hundreds of thousands of Sudanese fleeing the fights around El-Fasher found refuge after the attack in April of the neighboring camp of Zamzam by the FSR.

“In Tawila, the inhabitants survive with an average of only 3 liters of water per day, that is to say less than half of the minimum emergency threshold of 7.5 liters per person and per day necessary to drink, cook and ensure hygiene, according to WHO recommendations”said MSF on Thursday.

Body found in a well

According to the UN, around 300 children with cholera have been identified in this city since April. A woman moved to Tawila for two months explains: “We have no toilet, the children defeat outdoors. »»

“In displaced and refugees camps, families often have no choice but to drink contaminated water and many people catch cholera”Sylvain Penicaud, coordinator of MSF in Tawila.

“Two weeks ago, a body was found in a well in one of the camps. It was removed but two days later, people were forced to drink this water again ”he added.

“Worse humanitarian crisis in the world”

The fighting has intensified in Darfur since the army resumed in March the control of Khartoum and the paramilitaries, which besiege El-Fasher, try to seize this city-the only provincial capital in the region still run by the army.

The war in Sudan, which broke out in April 2023, killed tens of thousands of people, led to the movement or flight abroad of millions of Sudanese and caused what the UN describes as “The worst humanitarian crisis in the world”.