Cholera surges in Sudan’s White Nile State, more than 292,000 children at risk in Kosti

PORT SUDAN, 27 February 2025 – More than 500 children are among the 2,700 cholera cases, that have been reported in Sudan’s White Nile State between 1 January and 24 February 2025, according to health authorities. The outbreak has already killed at least 65 people including ten children. In response, UNICEF, together with the Federal Ministry of Health and humanitarian partners, is scaling up a multisectoral response to prevent further spread of the disease and protect vulnerable children.

A major power outage, following attacks on power plants on 16 February, disrupted the water supply in the localities of Kosti and Rabak in the White Nile State, forcing many families to collect untreated water from the White Nile River.

Lack of, or limited access to, safe and clean water combined with significant declines in vaccination rates are further exacerbating the situation and increasing the risk of cholera, especially in overcrowded displacement sites and camps in urban centres. The White Nile State hosts approximately 650,000 internally displaced people in addition to 400,000 refugees. Population movements across at the border with South Sudan add additional challenges to controlling the outbreak.

Cholera is a deadly threat to children and can be fatal within hours if not promptly treated.

“The continued destruction of critical humanitarian infrastructure has left no child safe in this war” said Sheldon Yett, UNICEF Representative to Sudan If children are denied access to clean water, hygiene and sanitation services, as well as information on preventing the spread of cholera, the outbreak will unfortunately continue.”

In Kosti, where an estimated 292,000 children are potentially at risk, UNICEF has provided fuel and water treatment chemicals to support the operation of the primary water treatment plant, securing access to safe drinking water for approximately 150,000 people. In the affected localities, UNICEF and partners are also delivering lifesaving water, sanitation, and hygiene supplies to provide access to clean water, enhance good practices and UNICEF is engaging communities, through dialogues and social media, to disseminate key messaging on the causes, symptoms, and prevention of cholera.

On 21 February, the Sudanese Ministry of Health, the World Health Organization (WHO) and UNICEF launched a six-day cholera vaccination campaign in the localities of Kosti and Rabak in White Nile. The campaign aims to reach over 1 million people with oral cholera vaccines. UNICEF has supplied cholera treatment kits and is supporting deployment of frontline workers to Cholera Treatment Centres to bolster treatment. UNICEF is also supporting the training of public health officers in infection prevention control and of community members to monitor the situation on the ground.

“Disease outbreaks, such as this surge of cholera, can push the already fragile healthcare system and weakened sanitation and hygiene infrastructure to their breaking point. While we invest in responding to this emergency now, we must invest in strengthening the systems underpinning the services children need,” said Yett.

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Notes for editors:

UNICEF urgently needs an additional US$ 750,000 to fund an emergency cholera response in the White Nile State in the areas of health, water, hygiene, sanitation, and social and behaviour change to curb the spread of the outbreak and prevent loss of life.

To date, more than 35,000 people have benefitted from the WASH supplies UNICEF and partners have distributed, including household water treatment chemicals to curb community transmission, the deployment of water chlorinators across water points to provide safe drinking water, and mobilization of rapid response teams to support water chlorination, conduct disinfection activities, and disseminate hygiene messages at the household level.

In Sudan, the national vaccination coverage has plummeted from 85 per cent before the war to approximately 50 percent. In active conflict zones the immunization rates are averaging at 30 per cent, a critically low rate of coverage.

Since the beginning of the cholera outbreak, officially declared on 12 August 2024, more than 55,000 cases and over 1,500 deaths were reported across 12 of 18 states in Sudan.

In response to the cholera outbreak in Sudan, UNICEF has delivered over 13.7 million doses of oral cholera vaccines since 2023, including over 9.2 million doses in 2024 and nearly 1.6 million doses in 2025. In addition to vaccines, UNICEF has extensively supported the procurement and delivery of critical supplies to Sudan, including oral rehydration salts, water purification tablets, acute watery diarrhoea kits and water tanks, both locally and offshore.

*Note, the number of vaccine doses delivered is based on the actual delivery dates, not the dates of approval by the International Coordination Group (ICG) for vaccine allocations.

*Note, the supplies delivered offshore in 2024 are for general support in the country.

Multimedia materials available here: https://weshare.unicef.org/Folder/2AM4089H29TC

For further information, please contact:

UNICEF UK Media Team, [email protected], 0207 375 6030

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