Sudan Cholera Outbreak Kills 120 as War Cripples Healthcare System
Last update: July 1, 2026
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A deadly disease is spreading fast in Sudan’s war zones, and doctors warn the worst is yet to come as the rainy season approaches.
A new cholera outbreak in Sudan has already killed 120 people, with more than 1,100 suspected cases reported since May, the World Health Organization said on Wednesday, cbinews.tv has learned.
The outbreak is hitting isolated war zones where healthcare has almost collapsed after three years of brutal fighting between Sudan’s army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).
This is Sudan’s third wave of cholera in as many years. It began just two months after the last outbreak was declared over in March.
Between July 2024 and March 2026, government figures show more than 124,400 people were infected and 3,500 died during the last wave.
Cholera is endemic to the northeast African country, but it used to come “in a cyclic manner every three years”, according to Dr Shible Sahbani, the WHO’s Sudan chief.
But now the country faces near continuous outbreaks “due to the conflict, constraints in access and limited supplies,” he told reporters.
Things could soon get worse. Sudan’s rainy season is set to surge in the coming weeks, and cholera cases usually balloon as millions go without clean water and the rains make roads impassable.
The Sudanese government declared the latest outbreak this week in West Kordofan state. The area sits right on the dividing line between army and RSF controlled territory.
Constant drone strikes from both sides have made it extremely dangerous for commercial trucks and aid workers to reach the Kordofan region. Hundreds of thousands there are now on the brink of starvation.
The WHO says the outbreak appears to be spreading. Close to 300 suspected cases and three deaths have already been reported in neighbouring North Kordofan. The United Nations has warned that the RSF is preparing a deadly ground assault on the state capital, El Obeid.
Drone strikes on El Obeid’s power stations are “disrupting access to lifesaving drinking water and electricity”, UN humanitarian chief Tom Fletcher said on Tuesday. He warned of the risk of mass atrocities.
Three years into the war, which aid groups estimate may have killed more than 200,000 people, nearly all of Sudan’s hospitals have been forced to shut down completely or partially.
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