Cholera patients treated on floor of Sudanese clinics with 40 dead in one week

Cholera-infected patients receive treatment in an isolation centre at a refugee camp in Tawila town in Darfur, Sudan, on Thursday. Picture: AFP via Getty

At least 40 people have died from cholera in Darfur, Sudan, in just one week, with clinics so full that patients are being treated on the floor, medical charity Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) has warned.

Water shortages and contamination, including a corpse found inside one drinking well, are adding to problems caused by over two years of civil war.

In the year since the outbreak was declared, more than 2,470 people have now died. Médecins Sans Frontières teams are running clinics across the country, including the Tawila area of Darfur.

Project co-ordinator Sylvain Penicaud said that in camps where those who fled the war live, they have no choice but to drink the dirty water.

“Just two weeks ago, a body was found in a well inside one of the camps,” he said.

It was removed but, within two days, people were forced to drink from that same water again

The water shortages make it almost impossible for people to safely wash and prepare food. 

People there are surviving on just three litres of water per day, when 7.5 litres is the minimum needed in emergencies. 

Extra mattresses

About 380,000 people are estimated by the UN to have fled to that region from the fighting. 

During July, MSF treated over 2,300 cholera patients while working with the ministry of health.

This centre had 130 beds but took in 400 during the first week of this month alone. 

MSF said this forced staff to add extra mattresses on the floor for patients, describing the centre as overwhelmed. Another 73-bed centre was opened about 100km away in mid-July. 

This has also been overwhelmed, with 137 patients arriving on August 3 alone. Another centre was expanded to offer 80 beds, but still faces challenges.

A resident in a nearly displacement camp, Samia Dahab, told MSF: “Some areas have water, others have kiosks that are far or empty. 

"Some water is salty, and we drink it unboiled, unsure if it’s safe.” 

MSF warned it is also seeing cholera spreading into South Sudan and Chad, as well as across Sudan. 

The head of mission in Sudan, Tuna Turkmen, warned: “The situation is beyond urgent”.

An international response is now needed to bring vaccines and other help to these people, the charity urged.