Sudan is grappling with its most severe cholera outbreak in years, with nearly 100,000 suspected cases and more than 2,470 related deaths recorded between August 2023 and August 11, 2025, according to Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) and the Ministry of Health.
The crisis has struck hardest in the Darfur region, already devastated by over two years of fighting between the Sudanese army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces. In the past week alone, MSF teams in Darfur treated more than 2,300 patients and reported 40 deaths. Cholera, an acute intestinal infection spread through contaminated food and water, can be fatal within hours if untreated but is preventable and curable with prompt medical care.
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Tawila, in North Darfur state, is facing the most extreme conditions. The United Nations estimates that 380,000 people have fled there to escape clashes around El-Fashir, the last major city in the region under army control. Displaced families survive on an average of just three liters of water per person per day—less than half the World Health Organization’s emergency minimum of 7.5 liters for drinking, cooking, and hygiene. The local cholera treatment center, officially equipped for 130 patients, was forced to house over 400 in early August, with extra mattresses laid on the floor to meet demand.
Contaminated water sources are a major contributor to the spread. “Just two weeks ago, a body was found in a well inside one of the camps. It was removed, but within two days, people were forced to drink from that same water again,” said Sylvain Penicaud, MSF’s project coordinator in Tawila.
The outbreak has spread rapidly to other areas, including Central and South Darfur, Blue Nile state, and into neighboring Chad and South Sudan. Heavy rains are further contaminating water supplies and damaging sewage systems, while the movement of people fleeing violence accelerates transmission.
MSF has expanded treatment facilities, established oral rehydration points, and called for urgent international action, including improved water and sanitation services and mass vaccination campaigns. “The situation is beyond urgent,” said Tuna Turkmen, MSF’s head of mission in Sudan. “Survivors of war must not be left to die from a preventable disease.”