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Sudan: Rift Valley Fever Outbreak - Oct 2019

Disaster description

On 10 October 2019, the National IHR Focal Point for Sudan notified WHO of 47 suspected cases of Rift Valley Fever (RVF), including two deaths in Arb’aat Area, Towashan Village, in El Qaneb locality, Red Sea State...On 13 October 2019, a total of 10 suspected RVF cases were recorded in Barbar and Abu Hamed localities, of River Nile State. Of the 10 suspected RVF cases, five samples were tested and four were found positive for RVF. From 19 September 2019 until 11 November 2019, a total of 293 suspected human RVF cases, including 11 associated deaths have been reported from six states; including the Red Sea (120), River Nile (168), Kassala (2), White Nile (1), Khartoum (1), and Al Qadarif (1) States...The recent floods, following heavy rains on 13 August 2019, caused flash floods in 17 of the 18 states, including Abyei area in West Kordofan State. These floods have favored vector abundance, distribution, and longevity. The current RVF outbreak started on 19 September 2019 and has affected six states impacted by the floods...In a country where export of livestock is one of the major sources of the national income, the current RVF outbreak, in the context of political unrest and a debilitated health system requires an urgent need for external assistance. (WHO, 14 Nov 2019)

The Sudanese Federal Ministry of Health (FMoH) has announced an outbreak of Rift Valley Fever (RVF) in the country, with a total of 308 suspected RVF cases—including 11 related deaths—reported in Red Sea (126), River Nile (177), Khartoum (1), White Nile (1), Kassala (2), and Gedaref (1) states. The most affected age group is 15 to 45 years, which accounts for 83 per cent of the total suspected cases. The male to female ratio is 2.6, with a high proportion of the cases being farmers (37.5 per cent) (OCHA, 21 Nov 2019.)

The Federal Ministry of Health (FMoH) of Sudan reported 28 new cases of Rift Valley fever (RVF) during epidemiological week 50 (8–14 December) of 2019. The cumulative number of reported cases since week 31 (28 July–5 August) this year is 393 including 11 associated deaths, giving CFR of 2.7%. The attack rate was 0.2 per 10 000 population. Among all reported cases, 57% were male and 87.1% were older than 15 years. The most affected age group were 45 years and above, which accounted for 29.3% of all cases. (WHO, 17 Dec 2019.)

Communicable diseases (diphtheria, cholera, dengue fever, Rift Valley fever and chikungunya) continue to be reported across the country. Between 8 December 2019 and 8 January 2020, the Federal Ministry of Health (FMoH) reported 207 new rift valley fevers. This brings the total cumulative number of Rift Valley fever cases as of 8 January to 572 (11 deaths). (OCHA, 27 Jan 2020.)

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