Darfur cholera cases rising at an 'alarming' rate as death toll in Sudan
tops 3,000, says WHO
[September 24, 2025]
GENEVA (AP) — The number of reported cholera cases is increasing
in Darfur and more than 3,000 people across all of Sudan have died from
the illness over the last 14 months of civil war, the U.N. health agency
said Tuesday.
The current outbreak of the bacterial infection caused by contaminated
food or water has spread to all 18 states in the war-torn country after
erupting in Kassala state in July last year, the World Health
Organization said.
Hala Khudari, its deputy representative in Sudan, said WHO has launched
a vaccination campaign targeting 406,000 people in North Darfur State
that comes “as cholera cases in Darfur continue to rise at an alarming
rate – at an alarming fatality rate, to be specific.”
As of Sunday, some 12,739 cases and 358 deaths have been reported in
more than half of Darfur localities, she said. The outbreak reached
Darfur state in western Sudan in May.
“Reported cases in Darfur continue to increase amid severe access
constraints that are impeding the required scale of response,” Khudari
told reporters in Geneva by video from Port Sudan.
The conflict between the Sudanese military and the Rapid Support Forces
paramilitary group erupted in April 2023 in Khartoum before spreading
across the country. The civil war has killed at least 40,000 people and
displaced as many as 12 million others, U.N. officials have said.
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A Sudanese girl receives an oral cholera vaccine during a 10-day
vaccination campaign conducted by health ministry workers in
Khartoum, Sudan, Wednesday, Aug. 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Marwan Ali,
File)
 Both sides have been accused of
committing atrocities like ethnic cleansing, extrajudicial killings
and sexual violence against civilians, including children.
Meanwhile, many people across Sudan have been pushed to the brink of
famine.
The conflict and increased movements of people who have fled the
fighting have limited access to basic services like clean water,
food and health care.
Overall, more than 113,600 cases and over 3,000 deaths have been
reported from across the country, reaching a fatality ratio of 2.7%,
well above the 1% target threshold, Khudari said.
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