More than 2,000 diarrhoea cases reported

A total of 2,007 cases of acute watery diarrhoea, including 77 deaths, have been reported in northern Sudan since April, according to figures compiled by the country's health ministry.

About 35 percent of the total number of cases occurred in the Khartoum state, while 26 percent were reported in Northern Kordofan, according to an update on the epidemic for the period 21 April to 18 June. The remaining cases occurred in White Nile, South Darfur, South Kordofan, Kassala, Red Sea, Al Gezira and River Nile.

Sudan's National Public Health Laboratory confirmed the isolation of vibrio cholerae in 70 out of 139 stool samples collected so far from these states. Vibrio cholerae is the bacterium that causes cholera, an acute diarrhoeal illness that results from the infection of the intestines.

The Federal Ministry of Health has formed a task force, which includes representatives from the United Nations Children's Fund (Unicef) and the UN World Health Organization (WHO) to coordinate the overall response to the epidemic. The WHO is also supplying diarrhoeal disease kits as well as laboratory supplies for the collection of samples, and kits for establishing field laboratories to increase surveillance capacity affected states.