October 24, Nairobi — In Kassala state, eastern Sudan, dengue fever is spreading at an unprecedented rate, especially among displaced people, sources told Darfur24. Three doctors at the Kassala Teaching Hospital have died from the disease.
The emergency department at the hospital is allegedly receiving between 50 to 60 new cases of dengue fever daily. Dengue fever is transmitted by mosquito bites.
Since fighting erupted between the Sudanese army and Rapid Support Forces last April, epidemics such as cholera, malaria, measles, and dengue fever have spread, leading to hundreds of deaths. In particular the country has reported a massive surge in cholera cases, reaching over 26,000 and over 730 deaths.
Dengue Fever Figures
Earlier this month it was reported that a dengue fever outbreak had killed over 250 people and infected over 7,600 in Omdurman in Khartoum, Sudan’s third-largest city, according to the Steering Committee for the Sudanese Doctors’ Union.
The figure was far higher than those being reported by Sudan’s ministry of health, who have said cases are at 2500 across the country. There has been no formal declaration of dengue fever as an epidemic, but this term has been used by the Ministry of Health in statements.