Sudan: Over 800 hospitalised and dozens have died from cholera outbreak
Dozens of people have died and over 800 are being treated for an outbreak of a waterborne infection at the Ministry of Health cholera treatment centre at Kosti Teaching Hospital in Sudan’s White Nile State.
Médecins Sans Frontières / Doctors Without Borders (MSF) are supporting the hospital, treating patients for symptoms of acute watery diarrhoea, dehydration, vomiting, and sunken eyes.
MSF has been supporting cholera-related responses in Kosti and Rabak Hospitals since October last year.
Recently, the number of cases had decreased, with some days seeing fewer than 20 patients. However, that suddenly changed on Wednesday 19 February when the first 100 patients arrived at the cholera treatment centre.
By Friday afternoon, there were over 800 admitted patients. At least two dozen people died at the centre and at least one person was dead on arrival. So far 48 have been discharged.
The numbers continue to rise and keeping a detailed tally has become difficult for the team responding.
Patients have overflowed from the MSF-built cholera treatment centre in Kosti Hospital, and the adult and paediatric emergency rooms have been needed to provide additional space for treatment.
The MSF team is collaborating with the Ministry of Health staff from Kosti Teaching Hospital and additional medical staff from Rabak Hospital to manage the huge number of patients.
Our work saves lives
Out of control
“The situation is really alarming and is about to get out of control,” said Dr Francis Layoo Ocan, MSF’s medical consultant in Kosti.
“The cholera treatment centre keeps receiving patients in critical condition. We've run out of space, and we are now admitting patients in an open area and treating them on the floor because there are not enough beds.
“We are mobilising our resources and have been able to manage so far but we are worried that if the situation continues like this over the next few days, we will run out of medical consumables that treat acute dehydration and are keeping patients alive. Not to mention that the medical teams would be completely overwhelmed.
“We urgently need other organisations to help respond to this emergency with staff and supplies for managing patients. People need water and it’s vital that outreach activities start to stem this crisis at the source.”
Finding the source
MSF teams are supporting the White Nile State Ministry of Health in managing the patients while assessing the causes of this surge and identifying ways to reduce and stop the spread of the disease.
The most likely source of infection is the river, where many families have been collecting water using donkey carts after a major power outage in the area.
Local health authorities have banned collecting water from the river by donkey carts and requested reinforcing the chlorination in the water distribution system. The market and most restaurants are closed.
MSF and the crisis in Sudan
The violence between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) has trapped millions of people in the middle of an unexpected conflict. Hundreds of thousands have been forced to flee their homes while access to essential services such as healthcare has become increasingly difficult.
Médecins Sans Frontières / Doctors Without Borders (MSF) teams already working in Sudan have been responding to the crisis since its first moments.