Lying in a hospital bed, Aisha Mohammed said she was suffering from symptoms of cholera, an illness that is becoming increasingly common in Sudan, where the health system has been ravaged by the protracted war.
Cholera, caused by contaminated water and food, has been common in Sudan, especially during the rainy season, even before fighting erupted between rival generals in April 2023.
But more than 16 months of fighting has forced most hospitals to close and the country of 48 million people has struggled to control the sometimes deadly but treatable disease.
In the southeastern town of Wad al-Furaiwa, 40-year-old Mohammed said he was suffering from acute diarrhoea and was receiving intravenous fluids to ease his symptoms.
Sudanese authorities and the United Nations have reported a surge in cholera cases as weeks of torrential rains battered parts of the country and forced thousands to flee.
Rains and flooding have caused a resurgence of the disease, which is primarily waterborne and, if untreated, can cause severe dehydration and death within hours.
The Ministry of Health declared a cholera outbreak on Monday and has since reported 556 cholera cases, including 27 deaths, mostly in Kassala state, where Wad Al-Furaiwa is located.
The neighboring province of Gadarif was also particularly hard hit, the ministry said.
The World Health Organization said there have been at least 11,327 cases of cholera in Sudan since June 2023, including 316 deaths.
Health Minister Haitham Ibrahim said the outbreak was caused by “climatic conditions and water pollution.”
In Wad al-Furaiwa alone, “there have been 150 confirmed cases so far, including seven deaths” since late July, local health official Adam Ali told AFP.
Before the war between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) began, the UN said around 40 percent of Sudanese people had no access to clean water. Since then, the situation has worsened.
“Our problem is drinking water,” Ali said.
Most of Wad Al Huraywa's residents “drink water directly from the river, and it is polluted water,” he said.
Health officials added that the rainy season brings large amounts of silt into the Setit River, which originates in neighbouring Ethiopia, causing pollution levels to rise.
Near the local hospital, workers were spraying insecticide to control fly populations, which Ali said was a sign of poor hygiene.
The construction of a dam on the Setit River in 2015 forced “the whole village” to relocate, and residents “dig makeshift toilets, but they are not maintained and flies attract them,” he said.
Access to clean water is disrupted throughout areas controlled by the Sudanese army and the Sudanese border guards, who are fighting for control of Sudan.
