Sudan: Cholera outbreak Flash Update No. 3, As of 14 November 2023 [EN/AR]

HIGHLIGHTS

• Sudan declared a cholera outbreak in Gedaref on 26 September. At least 2,525 suspected cases of acute watery diarrhoea/cholera, including 78 associated deaths, have been reported from 27 localities in Gedaref, South Kordofan, Kassala, Khartoum, Aj Jazirah and Sennar states as of 9 November 2023.

• More than 3.1 million people are estimated to be at risk of acute watery diarrhoea (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 highrisk areas to identify and address risk factors.

• The International Coordination Group on Vaccine Provision (ICG) Secretariat (WHO, UNICEF, MSF, IFRC) approved the Federal Ministry of Health’s request for more than 2.9 million doses of oral cholera vaccines (OCV) for reactive vaccination campaigns in nine localities of Gedaref, Al Jazirah and Khartoum states.

• Vaccines are expected to arrive on 20 November, and vaccination campaigns are expected to start by the end of November.

SITUATION OVERVIEW

As of 9 November 2023, at least 2,525 suspected cases of acute watery diarrhoea (AWD)/cholera, including 78 associated deaths (case fatality rate of 3.1 per cent), were reported from 27 localities of six states, according to the Federal Ministry of Health (FMoH) and the World Health Organization (WHO). Most of the suspected cases tested positive with rapid diagnostic tests (RDTs) and the causative organism (V. cholerae) has been isolated from 33 cases in four states. There are 1,243 suspected cases of cholera, including 22 laboratory confirmed cases and 36 associated deaths, in Gedaref; 501 suspected cases, including 7 laboratory confirmed cases and 10 associated deaths, in Aj Jazirah; 403 suspected cases, including 1 laboratory confirmed case and 24 associated deaths, in Khartoum; 346 suspected cases and eight associated deaths in South Kordofan; 23 suspected cases, including 3 laboratory confirmed cases, in Kassala; and nine suspected cases in Sennar.

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 AWD and cholera in eight states in 13 localities between July and December 2023 as per cholera hotspot mapping exercise conducted by the FMoH with technical support of WHO.

On 8 November, the sixth WHO-chartered flight from the WHO Global Logistics Hub in Dubai landed in Port Sudan, having delivered 33.6 metric tonnes (MT) of supplies for cholera response: medicines, laboratory supplies and equipment as well as inter-agency reproductive health kits for the UN Population Fund (UNFPA).