United States: Sudan has witnessed a nearly 40 percent rise in cholera incidences within two weeks; as per the new statistics, the UN health ministry predicted the disease and poor reaction to it when it began in July.
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The health ministry in Sudan stated on Monday that there were 21,288 cases across 11 of the 18 states within this time, with 626 deaths.
This is an improvement compared to the case of 15,577 and 506 deaths recorded on September 26. Most of the cases are in the eastern States.
The majority of them were recorded in Kassala, where UNICEF, with the support of the ministry and WHO, is planning to conduct the second round of the oral cholera vaccination initiated this month.
According to Richard Brennan, the regional emergency director at WHO, “There’s no doubt that the number of cases is increasing rather rapidly. We’re seeing a faster rate of spread than we did during the outbreak last year, so the number of cases is concerning,” the ABC News reported.
“That’s why, together with the Ministry of Health and partners like UNICEF, we’re redoubling our efforts here,” Brennan added.
Cholera outbreak declared
Cholera was officially declared an outbreak on August 12 by the health ministry after a new wave of cases emerged on July 22.
The disease is still on the rise in parts of the country that experienced devastating recent rainfall and floods, especially in eastern Sudan, which hosts millions of individuals who fled from the conflict between Sudan’s military and the RSF.
Cholera, an infectious disease leads to a severe form of diarrhea and can be fatal from severe dehydration, WHO made clear. It spreads through the consumption of foods or drinking water that is infected.
According to the report, UNICEF dispatched 404,000 doses of the vaccine to Sudan on September 9. Other affected states will also continue to launch new vaccination campaigns, ABC reported.
On Saturday morning, a UNICEF plane with 1.4 million doses of oral cholera vaccine arrived in Sudan.
The vaccination campaign aims to reach 1.81 million people in the most affected states: Kassala, River Nile, and Gedaref, according to UNICEF in a statement it released recently.