Sudan health minister declares cholera epidemic

Port Sudan: Sudan s health minister on Saturday declared a cholera epidemic after weeks of heavy rain in the war torn country, in a video released by...

Port Sudan: Sudan's health minister on Saturday declared a cholera epidemic after weeks of heavy rain in the war-torn country, in a video released by his ministry.

"We are declaring a cholera epidemic because of the weather conditions and because drinking water has been contaminated," Haitham Ibrahim said in the video.

He said the decision was taken in conjunction with authorities in the eastern state of Kassala, United Nations agencies and experts after the "discovery by the public health laboratory of the cholera virus".

The northeast African country has been engulfed in a war since April 2023 between the Sudanese army under the country's de facto ruler Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), led by his former deputy Mohamed Hamdan Daglo.

The conflict has unleashed one of the world's worst humanitarian crises, with more than 25 million people -- upwards of half the population -- facing acute hunger.