A cholera outbreak in Sudan has killed 172 people and infected over 2,500 in the past week, further straining the country’s collapsed healthcare system, according to Sudanese authorities.

The majority of cases were reported in Khartoum and Omdurman, but cholera has also spread across multiple provinces, raising fears of a nationwide epidemic.

Doctors Without Borders (MSF) warned that Sudan’s medical facilities are overwhelmed, with nearly 2,000 suspected cases treated in the last week alone. Sudan MSF coordinator Joyce Bakker described the crisis as “disturbing,” with many patients arriving too late to be saved.

Experts call for an urgent response, including water sanitation measures and increased treatment centers to contain the disease.

Cholera, a highly contagious waterborne infection, spreads through contaminated food and water, causing severe dehydration and rapid death if untreated, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).

This outbreak comes as Sudan enters its third year of war, with at least 20,000 people killed since 2023 and over 14 million displaced. The UN warns that Sudan is now facing the world’s largest humanitarian crisis, as famine, disease, and armed conflict continue to devastate the population.

Sudan’s Health Minister Haitham Ibrahim attributed the surge in cholera cases to the return of displaced Sudanese, putting additional strain on dwindling water supplies in Khartoum.

The Sudan outbreak is part of a wider cholera crisis affecting 18 African nations since January, with the Democratic Republic of Congo, Angola, and South Sudan among the worst-hit countries.

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