Thursday, 6 March 2025 – Since February 20, when the latest cholera outbreak started in Sudan’s White Nile State, until March 5, a total of 2,718 cases have been admitted to the Ministry of Health cholera treatment centre at Kosti Teaching Hospital, supported by Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF). Sadly, 92 of these patients have died.
This wave of cholera, a waterborne disease, was triggered by a mass power outage after the Rabak power plant was hit by a projectile from the Rapid Support Forces on 16 February, according to reports. This led the community to rely mostly on water procured from donkey carts after water pumps went out of service.
Attacks on critical infrastructure have long-term detrimental effects on the health of vulnerable communities. Warring parties must adhere to the rules of war and ensure that civilians and critical infrastructure are protected.said Marta Cazorla, MSF Emergency Coordinator for Sudan.
The peak of this outbreak was between February 20 and 24, as patients and their families rushed to the Kosti hospital in a state of panic. The influx of cases, most of them severely dehydrated, led to patients overflowing and having to be treated on the floor as the hospital and the cholera treatment centre (CTC) ran out of space.
To get the situation under control, the White Nile State Ministry of Health coordinated the outbreak response at community level through providing access to clean water to the community, banning of donkey carts, and raising awareness through health promotion. Moreover, it managed a cholera vaccination campaign during the week of the outbreak.
The MSF team worked hand in hand with the Ministry of Health staff from Kosti Teaching Hospital and additional medical staff from Rabak hospital on case management, supporting with on-the-job training and supervision as well as providing incentives to the staff.
Additionally, MSF mobilised logistics support from Port Sudan, Kassala and Kosti, providing 14 metric tonnes of medical items such as medicines and treatment kits, as well as over 25 tonnes of logistical items such as beds and tents to Kosti to assist the response and enlarge the size of the CTC. Moreover, the team provided the CTC with clean water supply and storage as well as chlorination and infection control.
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Over 800 hospitalised and dozens dead from waterborne infection in Sudan’s White Nile state
