The World Health Organisation WHO warned on Friday that cholera cases in Sudan are set to rise and could spread to neighbouring countries, including Chad, which hosts hundreds of thousands of refugees from Sudans civil war in crowded conditions.
The more than two-year-old war between the Sudanese army - which took full control of Khartoum state this week - and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces has spread hunger and disease and destroyed most health facilities. Drone attacks in recent weeks have interrupted electricity and water supplies in the capital Khartoum, driving up cases there.
Our concern is that cholera is spreading, Dr Shible Sahbani, WHO Representative for Sudan, told reporters in Geneva by video link from Port Sudan.
He said that cholera had reached 13 states in Sudan, including North and South Darfur which border Chad, and that 1 854 people had already died in the latest wave as the dangerous, rainy season sets in.
We assume that if we dont invest in the prevention measures, in surveillance, in the early warning system, in vaccination and in educating the population, for sure, the neighbouring countries, but not only that, it can maybe spread to the sub-region, he said.
