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Sudan’s health ministry announced a surge in cholera cases on Tuesday, with 172 deaths and 2,700 infections recorded in just one week, as the ongoing civil war continues to devastate vital infrastructure.
According to the ministry, around 90 percent of the cases occurred in Khartoum state, where water and electricity services have collapsed following a series of drone attacks attributed to the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF). The RSF has been engaged in a brutal conflict with the Sudanese army since April 2023.
Infections have also been confirmed in other regions across the south, centre, and north of the country.
Cholera is endemic in Sudan, but outbreaks have intensified dramatically since the war began, crippling already fragile health, sanitation, and water systems.
Just last week, the ministry reported 51 deaths from over 2,300 cholera cases in the previous three weeks—again, with the vast majority in the Khartoum region.
Recent RSF drone strikes targeted infrastructure in Khartoum, including three power stations. Although the army has now pushed the RSF out of its final strongholds in the capital, the damage has been severe. The strikes disrupted electricity supplies, which in turn disabled the local water systems, according to Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders).
“Water treatment stations no longer have electricity and cannot provide clean water from the Nile,” said Slaymen Ammar, MSF’s medical coordinator in Khartoum.
Cholera, a bacterial disease typically spread through contaminated water or food, can lead to death within hours if left untreated. However, it is both preventable and easily treatable with access to clean water, sanitation, and prompt medical care.
The World Health Organisation has warned that Sudan’s healthcare system is being pushed to “breaking point” due to the conflict. The country’s doctors’ union reports that up to 90 percent of hospitals have been forced to shut down at some point since the war began, often as a result of looting, bombing, or direct attacks.
Now entering its third year, Sudan’s civil war has killed tens of thousands of people, displaced over 13 million, and triggered the world’s worst hunger and displacement crisis.
