Cholera Outbreak in Sudan Kills Over 300 People

The humanitarian crisis from the civil war in Sudan is also exacerbating infections including cholera, and the bacterial disease has killed more than 300 people in the region, a World Health Official said.

WHO spokesperson Margaret Harris said in a media call that 11,327 cholera cases with 316 deaths had been reported and that dengue fever and meningitis infections were also on the rise.

"We expect to have more than has been reported," she said, adding that healthcare access has been constrained due to the conflict.

Sudan's sovereign council said it would allow the use of the Adre border crossing with Chad for three months - a move long waited by aid agencies seeking to send aid into areas of the Darfur region that are threatened with famine.

Global monitors say that more than 6 million people face food insecurity across Darfur, which is mostly controlled by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), the army's rival in a 16-month war, and that famine has taken hold in North Darfur's Zamzam camp.

The army-aligned government blocked aid deliveries in February through the Adre crossing into territory controlled by the RSF, alleging that it was being used for weapons deliveries.

World Food Programme (WFP) Sudan spokesperson Leni Kinzli said her agency welcomes the reopening of the crossing.

“It is the world’s largest hunger crisis, 25.6 million people are in acute hunger,” she said. “Around 755,000 people are in the highest level of food insecurity, catastrophic hunger, which basically means they’ve run out of all options and are surviving in whatever way they can, eating leaves off trees, eating grass.”

Global monitors say that across the country, half the population of about 50 million face food insecurity.