Sudan: Cholera outbreak Flash Update No. 2, As of 26 October 2023 [EN/AR]

HIGHLIGHTS

At least 1,618 suspected cases of cholera have been reported from 22 localities in Gedaref, South Kordofan, Khartoum and Aj Jazirah states as of 22 October, including 67 associated deaths.

• Sudan declared a cholera outbreak in Gedaref State on 26 September, and in Khartoum and South Kordofan states on 7 October.

• More than 3.1 million people are estimated to be at risk of acute watery diarrhea (AWD) and cholera in eight states between July and December 2023.

• Humanitarian agencies are scaling up the response to the outbreak, supporting the detection and treatment of cases. Surveillance is ongoing in affected and high-risk areas to identify and address risk factors.

• The Federal Ministry of Health (FMoH), with the technical support of the World Health Organization (WHO), submitted a request to the International Coordination Group on Vaccine Provision (ICG) Secretariat for more than 2.5 million doses of oral cholera vaccines (OCV) for a vaccination campaign in parts of Gedaref and Khartoum states.

• With WHO technical support, the FMoH is finalizing a second application to the ICG Secretariat for about 700,000 doses of OCV for a campaign targeting the older than one-year population in Medani Alkubra locality of Aj Jazirah State.

SITUATION OVERVIEW

In July 2023, suspected cases of acute watery diarrhea (AWD) and cholera were reported in South Kordofan. In September 2023, the FMoH declared a cholera outbreak in Gedaref. As of 22 October, there were 1,618 suspected cases of cholera, including 67 associated deaths, in 22 localities of four states, according to the Federal Ministry of Health (FMoH). This includes 763 suspected cases and 32 associated deaths in Gedaref, 346 suspected cases and 8 deaths in South Kordofan, 256 suspected cases and 6 deaths in Aj Jazirah, and 244 suspected cases and 21 deaths in Khartoum.

Based on the epidemiological situation in the affected states, a risk assessment was conducted to identify high-risk localities and target groups for vaccination against cholera. More than 3.1 million people are estimated to be at risk of acute watery diarrhea and cholera in eight states in 13 localities between July and December 2023.

The FMoH, with WHO technical support, submitted a request to the ICG Secretariat for 2,521,785 doses of oral cholera vaccines (OCV) for a vaccination campaign in six localities of Gedaref State and two localities of Khartoum State on 24 October 2023. On 25 October, the ICG Secretariat approved 1,576,448 doses for a campaign targeting persons older than one year in six localities of Gedaref. The application for Khartoum State is under review.

With WHO support, the FMoH is finalizing a second application to the ICG Secretariat for 692,710 doses of OCV for a campaign targeting the older than one year population in Medani Alkubra locality of Aj Jazirah State.