Cholera Is Spreading Rapidly in Darfur in the Worst Outbreak in Years

The Associated Press

11:31 JST, August 15, 2025

CAIRO (AP) — Cholera is spreading rapidly in Darfur, killing 40 people and infecting more than 2,300 over the past week alone because of water shortages and a collapsed health care system have left communities vulnerable amid the ongoing war in Sudan, Doctors Without Borders said in a report Thursday.

The group, also known as Medecins Sans Frontieres, or MSF, said that hte outbreak was the worst the North African country has seen in years.

As of Monday, a total of 99,700 suspected cases and more than 2,470 related deaths have been reported in Sudan since the cholera outbreak began in July 2024, according to MSF.

While some vaccination campaigns that kicked off at the time managed to contain the disease, more people have been infected over the past few months because of poor hygiene measures and large numbers of people being displaced amid intensified fighting in the Darfur and Kordofan regions.

The civil war erupted in April 2023 in Khartoum before spreading across the country. The fighting between the Sudanese military, its allies, and rival paramilitary group Rapid Support Forces, or RSF, has killed more than 40,000 people, displaced as many as 12 million, caused disease outbreaks and pushed many to the brink of famine.

The World Health Organization describes cholera as a “disease of poverty,” because it spreads where there is poor sanitation and a lack of clean water. The diarrheal disease is caused when people eat food or water contaminated with the bacterium Vibrio cholerae. It is easily treatable with rehydration solutions and antibiotics, but in severe cases the disease can kill within hours if left untreated.

Heavy rains worsened the situation by damaging sewage systems and creating stagnant water that became contaminated.

“The situation is most extreme in Tawila, North Darfur state, where 380,000 people have fled to escape ongoing fighting around the city of El Fasher, according to the United Nations,” MSF said Thursday.

The medical group added that Tawila Hospital was overwhelmed by around 400 cholera patients earlier this month, when it only had the capacity for 130 people. Many had to be treated on the floor.

“Overcrowding of the camps and the catastrophic hygiene condition are key factors,” Sylvain Penicaud, MSF project coordinator in Tawila, North Darfur, told The Associated Press by phone. Recent displacement fueled by the fighting is another contributing factor to the outbreak.

People are forced to take water from contaminated sources such as community wells that are “extremely dirty.” The hygiene situation in Tawila is dire, he said.

MSF plans to launch a vaccination campaign in Tawila as soon they receive 400,000 doses of cholera vaccine in coordination with WHO.

North Darfur’s capital city, el-Fasher, and its surrounding areas have seen repeated waves of violence recently. On Monday, the RSF attacked the famine-stricken displacement camp of Abu Shouk outside the city, killing 40 people and wounding at least 19 people.

On Monday, the RSF denied targeting civilians in el-Fasher, but didn’t mention attacks in Abu Shouk camp in a statement on its Telegram channel. The paramilitary accused Islamic Movement militias and “mercenaries of the armed movements” of endangering the lives of civilians and using them as “human shields in a desperate attempt to hinder” forces’ advancements.

“The Rapid Support Forces reaffirms its commitment to continuing to open safe corridors for the departure of civilians from El Fasher to other, safer areas,” the group said.