A severe cholera outbreak centred in Sudan’s war-torn capital, Khartoum, has killed at least 70 people in just two days, local health authorities confirmed, raising alarm over an escalating public health emergency in a city already devastated by more than two years of armed conflict.
The Khartoum state health ministry reported 942 new infections and 25 deaths on Wednesday, following 1,177 cases and 45 fatalities the previous day. The outbreak is being driven by the near-total collapse of health and sanitation infrastructure, worsened by ongoing fighting between the Sudanese army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).
Khartoum, once a thriving metropolis, has lost access to water and electricity in recent weeks after drone attacks—blamed on the RSF—targeted critical infrastructure. Despite recent gains by government forces, who claim to have pushed RSF fighters from their last urban strongholds, the capital remains in crisis.
“The combination of conflict, displacement, destroyed infrastructure, and lack of clean water is fuelling the resurgence of cholera and other deadly diseases,” said Eatizaz Yousif, Sudan country director for the International Rescue Committee. “Sudan is on the brink of a full-scale public health disaster,” she warned.
Nationally, the federal health ministry reported that 172 people died of cholera in the week leading up to Tuesday—nearly 90% of them in Khartoum state. Since August 2024, more than 65,000 suspected cases and at least 1,700 deaths have been recorded across 12 of Sudan’s 18 states.
In Khartoum alone, 7,700 cases and 185 deaths have been reported, with over 1,000 infections in children under five. Aid organisations say the numbers may be higher, with only 10% of hospitals in war-affected zones still functioning.
The looming rainy season threatens to further accelerate the outbreak and restrict humanitarian access to the most affected areas. The United Nations children’s agency, UNICEF, estimates that more than one million children are at risk in cholera-affected regions of Khartoum.
“We are racing against time to provide basic healthcare, clean water and good nutrition,” said Sheldon Yett, UNICEF’s representative in Sudan. “Each day, more children are exposed to this double threat of cholera and malnutrition.”
The war between the Sudanese army and the RSF, now in its third year, has already claimed tens of thousands of lives, displaced 13 million people, and triggered what the UN calls the world’s largest displacement and hunger crisis.
International aid groups are calling for immediate global intervention to prevent a further catastrophe. Without urgent action, experts warn, the death toll could rise dramatically in the coming weeks.
