World
What has caused the cholera outbreak in Sudan?
More than 350 cases of cholera have been recorded in a new outbreak in Sudan in just a few weeks.
The difficulties in reaching and registering victims amid the continuing humanitarian crisis caused by the country’s civil war have led experts to speculate that many more people than this may have been infected, however.
Health Minister Haitham Mohamed Ibrahim said at least 22 people have died from the disease and declared a cholera epidemic after several weeks of heavy rain, which has contaminated drinking water.
The cholera epidemic is just the latest crisis for Sudan, where fighting between the army and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), a paramilitary group, has been spreading around the country since April 2023.
Cholera is not new to Sudan. In 2017, a previous outbreak killed at least 700 people and infected about 22,000 in less than two months.
Outside of this latest outbreak, the World Health Organization (WHO) has recorded 78 deaths from cholera between the start of this year and July 28 in Sudan, while some 2,400 people have been infected across the country as a whole.
But what is behind this latest outbreak, and how far has it spread? Here’s what we know so far:
Where has cholera broken out?
The Sudanese health ministry first reported this latest outbreak two weeks ago, when 17 people had died from the disease and 268 cases had been reported in Kassala, El Gezira and Khartoum. This has now risen to 22 deaths and 354 cases.
Sudan has been experiencing particularly heavy seasonal rains since June, with floods killing dozens of people. According to the UN International Organization for Migration (IOM), more than 20,000 people have been displaced by the flooding across 11 of Sudan’s 18 states since June.
Water supplies have also become contaminated with cholera due to the floodwaters mixing with sewage.
WHO spokesperson Tarik Jasarevic told the Associated Press that data showed that most of the detected cases were in people who had not been vaccinated against cholera.
He added the WHO was working with the Sudanese health authorities and partners to implement a vaccination campaign across the nine localities in five provinces where the disease has been recorded.
What is cholera?
Cholera is a bacterial disease usually spread through contaminated water. It is spread when people drink infected water, when people with open wounds have direct contact with the contaminated water, and, in some cases, when they eat raw shellfish.
It cannot be transmitted from person to person, so casual contact with a person who has the disease is not a risk.
The disease causes severe diarrhoea and dehydration. If the disease is left untreated, cholera can kill within hours – even people who were previously healthy.
While the disease might not cause illness to everyone exposed to it, infected people can still pass the bacteria in their stool, contaminating food and water supplies. This is a particular problem where there are no working sanitation facilities.
How is cholera treated?
Treatment for cholera includes rehydration to replace the lost fluids.
According to the Mayo Clinic, a US academic medical centre, without rehydration, “half the people with cholera die. With treatment, fatalities drop to less than 1 percent”.
Other treatments include intravenous fluids, antibiotics and zinc supplements.
Children under the age of five have the highest rates of infection, but all age groups are at risk, especially those suffering from malnutrition, those who are immunocompromised or who lack prior vaccination.
Why is cholera spreading in Sudan?
The war in Sudan has damaged and destroyed much of the country’s civilian infrastructure, including sewage and water treatment works, and turned many places, including the capital, Khartoum, into battlefields.
Many hospitals and medical facilities have been forced to close their doors as they have minimal or no supplies.
While the overall death toll resulting from the conflict remains unclear, some estimates, according to US envoy to Sudan Tom Perriello, are as high as 150,000 people so far.
In June, the IOM reported that more than 10 million people had been displaced within Sudan due to the conflict. Cholera spreads more quickly when populations are displaced and sanitation and hygiene become poor, making war zones the perfect climate for the disease to spread.
On top of this, according to the World Food Programme (WFP), the heavy rainy season has heavily exacerbated the already dire situation, making it harder for aid convoys to pass through the muddy, flooded roads.
The WFP reported on Monday that the organisation originally aimed to reach half a million people, but convoys are “currently stranded on the Chad side, with heavy rainfall making it largely impassable – some trucks have been stuck for up to two weeks”.
“Preventable diseases [are spreading] quickly in areas where critical infrastructure, like clean water and sanitation systems, has been damaged by conflict and in overcrowded displacement camps,” the WFP said.
Will the cholera epidemic in Sudan get worse?
According to the WFP, the heavy rainfall is forecast to last until September.
Some forecasts warn that “flooding could surpass the historic 2020 floods that hit Khartoum,” the organisation said.
Despite the WFP’s warning of the dire humanitarian situation in the country, the war is continuing.
On Sunday, the army said it would send a delegation to meet with US officials in Cairo following US pressure to join the ongoing peace talks in Switzerland, which aim to end the conflict and the subsequent humanitarian crisis.
Director of John Hopkins Center for Humanitarian Health, Paul Spiegel, also told Al Jazeera that cholera “thrives during conflict and forced displacement”.
“These conditions make it incredibly challenging to control cholera outbreaks, leading to rapid transmission and devastating consequences for affected communities,” he said.
Spiegel added while an active conflict makes traditional methods of controlling an outbreak difficult, health officials “must be flexible and innovative, and take advantage of the different contexts” within Sudan to mitigate the spread of disease.
Are other diseases on the rise in Sudan?
On Friday, WHO official Margaret Harris said that dengue fever and meningitis infections were also on the rise in Sudan due to dire living conditions as a result of the 16-month-long war.
World
Keir Starmer reportedly considering stepping down as PM and could announce timetable for departure
British PM Keir Starmer could face leadership challenge amid internal troubles
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer faces significant internal pressure following Andy Burnham’s special election win, potentially triggering a leadership contest. Starmer is under fire for economic pressures, illegal immigration issues, and controversies surrounding his previous role in prosecuting grooming gangs. Elon Musk also accused Starmer of complicity.
NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer is reportedly considering stepping down and could announce a timetable for his departure as early as Monday, according to a report published Saturday.
Britain’s Observer newspaper reported that Starmer was discussing his future with his wife at his Chequers country residence before making a final decision.
The outlet reported that senior Labour Party figures expect a statement addressing his future as early as next week.
A government source told Reuters that Starmer remains focused on governing and pointed to previous comments in which he vowed to remain in office.
AS EPSTEIN-LINKED APPOINTMENT SPARKS BACKLASH, UK PM STARMER FACES PARTY REVOLT AMID RESIGNATION CALLS
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer awaits Switzerland’s Federal President Guy Parmelin on the sidelines of the G7 summit, in Evian-les-Bains, France, Tuesday. (Isabel Infantes/Pool Reuters via AP)
Fox News Digital has reached out to the prime minister’s office for comment.
Pressure on Starmer has been building for months amid growing dissatisfaction within his party and concerns over the government’s handling of the economy and cost-of-living issues.
The political threat to Starmer intensified Friday after rival Andy Burnham won a seat in Parliament, positioning him to mount a formal leadership challenge.
LABOUR MP PUTS CABINET ‘ON NOTICE,’ THREATENS TO TRIGGER LEADERSHIP CHALLENGE AGAINST STARMER BY MONDAY
Britain’s Labour party candidate Andy Burnham speaks to supporters after the Makerfield by-election in Ashton in Makerfield, England, Friday. (Jon Super/AP)
Starmer congratulated Burnham following the victory, writing on X that voters, “chose Labour’s campaign of hope and optimism over division and hate.”
When asked about Burnham’s apparent ambitions to replace him, Starmer insisted he intends to remain in office.
“I’ve said repeatedly I’m not going to walk away from that,” Starmer said.
UK’S STARMER JUGGLES TROUBLE AT HOME AS HE WALKS GEOPOLITICAL TIGHTROPE WITH TRUMP
Sir Keir Starmer is battling to save his position and refusing to stand aside despite dozens of Labout MP’s demanding he resigns. (Leon Neal/Getty Images)
Starmer has led the Labour Party since 2020 and became prime minister in 2024.
Calls for his resignation intensified last month, with more than 100 Labour lawmakers publicly urging him to step aside or set out a timetable for his departure. Several parliamentary aides also resigned in protest.
The internal revolt followed a series of disappointing local election results for Labour, which lost hundreds of council seats across England, surrendered long-held ground in Wales and fell behind political rivals in Scotland.
UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer speaks a news conference at Downing Street in London, March 5. (Tolga Akmen/EPA/Bloomberg via Getty Images, File)
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP
Starmer’s popularity has also declined amid a persistently high cost of living, sluggish economic growth and criticism over his acceptance of gifts from wealthy donors.
Fox News Digital’s James Cirrone and Emma Bussey, and Reuters contributed to this report.
United States President Donald Trump has pledged there will be no tolls for passage through the Strait of Hormuz, unless they are collected by his own country.
Trump’s statement, made in a Saturday afternoon post on Truth Social, is the latest sign that a recently signed memorandum of understanding (MOU) may be unravelling.
list of 3 itemsend of listRecommended Stories
“There will be NO TOLLS in the Hormuz Strait for 60 days during the Cease Fire Period, and there will be NO TOLLS after the 60 day period has expired,” Trump wrote, “unless they are imposed by and for the United States of America.”
Since the US and Israel launched a war against Iran on February 28, Iran has successfully used the Strait of Hormuz as a pressure point, closing the strategic waterway to traffic.
But under the terms of Wednesday’s ceasefire memorandum, the strait is supposed to reopen for an interim period of 60 days. During that time, Iran is barred from charging vessels for passage.
On Saturday, however, Iran’s joint military command said it had closed the Strait of Hormuz, citing a “clear breach” of the memorandum’s commitments.
US Central Command (CENTCOM), the agency that oversees military operations in the region, denied that report and maintained that the traffic continues to flow through the waterway.
The Strait of Hormuz has long been a flashpoint in the conflict between the US and Iran. Nearly 20 percent of the world’s oil and natural gas is transported through the strait, as well as about 30 percent of the global fertiliser trade.
Closure of the strait has caused global fuel costs to soar and has tested agricultural sectors across the world.
Trump had responded to Iran’s chokehold over the strait by imposing a US naval blockade on Iran’s ports in the region.
But that naval blockade was lifted under the terms of Wednesday’s memorandum. The deal also paused fighting on all fronts in the regional conflict, including in Lebanon.
The memorandum, though, was not intended as a long-term deal. It serves as a launching point for negotiations on key issues, including the future of Iran’s nuclear programme.
Several points of divergence also went unaddressed in the memorandum. Nowhere does the memo say that future tolls cannot be collected from the strait after the 60-day period expires.
Before the war, there was no charge for passage through the strait. Trump himself said in an interview with The New York Times that the waterway should remain “permanently toll-free”.
But he appeared to reverse course in Saturday’s post, once again floating the possibility that the US could extract tolls in the strait, while barring Iran from doing so.
No fees should be levied, Trump wrote, “unless they are imposed by and for the United States of America, should the deal not be completed”.
He explained that such a charge would compensate the US “for services rendered as the Guardian Angel to the countries of the Middle East for purposes of both past, present, and future reimbursement of costs”.
Trump used similar language in his New York Times interview earlier this week, floating the US becoming “the guardian of the Middle East” in exchange for 20 percent of its revenue.
Saturday’s post is not the first time Trump has mused about the US imposing tolls in the strait, either.
In April, for instance, he discussed the idea with reporters, saying, “What about us charging tolls? I’d rather do that than let them have them. Why shouldn’t we? We’re the winner. We won.”
There has been no indication that Trump’s plans have been officially presented to countries in the region, many of whom have struck a careful balance in their dealings with both the US and Iran during the war.
Iranian officials, meanwhile, have repeatedly said they will not rule out imposing tolls in the strait, framing the issue as a matter of sovereignty and regional negotiation. The strait sits between Iran and Oman.
Further discussions are expected on the matter in the coming weeks.
But such negotiations have been thrown into jeopardy amid ongoing Israeli military operations in Lebanon, which threaten to violate Wednesday’s ceasefire memorandum.
Iran claimed that Saturday’s closure of the strait was a result of new Israeli attacks in southern Lebanon, which killed dozens of people after the ceasefire was announced.
Iranian officials have also said that any upcoming talks should focus on proper implementation of the initial memorandum, and that the 60-day negotiating period stipulated in Wednesday’s deal would begin after that was settled.
Pakistan, a top mediator between the US and Iran, has said that follow-up talks are set to begin in Switzerland on Sunday.
Switzerland’s Federal Department of Foreign Affairs has confirmed that an Iranian delegation, led by parliamentary Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf and Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, has already arrived for the negotiations.
On the US side, Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, special envoy Steve Witkoff and Vice President JD Vance are expected to attend.
Vance departed for Switzerland late Saturday.
-
Delaware2 minutes agoDelaware Lottery Powerball, Play 3 Day winning numbers for June 20, 2026
-
Florida5 minutes agoJuneteenth in Fort Myers: See photos of the celebration
-
Georgia10 minutes ago
Georgia Lottery Powerball, Cash 3 results for June 20, 2026
-
Hawaii17 minutes agoWaianae encampment deadline extended amid pushback from lawmaker, community
-
Idaho20 minutes agoOne dead, four injured in US 26 crash near Ririe – East Idaho News
-
Illinois25 minutes agoIllinois Prison Closure Deepens Small Town’s Fears
-
Indiana32 minutes agoIndiana Republicans nominate Max Engling for secretary of state at GOP Convention in Fort Wayne
-
Iowa35 minutes agoWhy Iowa State Basketball Will Miss Star Potential of Milan Momcilovic
