17 December 2019 – The Federal Ministry of Health (FMoH) of Sudan reported 186 new cases of dengue during epidemiological week 50 (7–14 December) of 2019. The cumulative number of reported cases since week 31 (28 July – 5 August) this year is 4031 cases including 13 associated deaths, giving a case fatality rate of 0.32%. The attack rate was 1.5 per 10 000 population. Among all reported cases, 46% are female and 70.8% are older than 15 years of age.

On 8 August 2019 the FMoH announced an outbreak of dengue fever in Kassala State after cases were first reported during week 31 and then spread to other states. Currently, 24 localities in nine states are affected by dengue, namely Algdaref, East Darfur, Kassala, Kurdofan, North Darfur, North Sennar, Red Sea, South Darfur and West Darfur. The majority of cases were reported from Kassala State (94% cases).

Most of the cases complained of fever, headache and joint pain (99.6%, 95.1% and 78.6%, respectively). Only 6.9% (264) had bleeding, a little over half of them from the nose.

Blood samples were collected from 200 patients, with 77 testing positive by ELISA and PCR, as reported by the National Public Health Laboratory of Sudan.

WHO continues to provide leadership and support for activities with health authorities and partners to respond to this ongoing dengue outbreak, including case management, surveillance, laboratory investigations and risk communication. Entomological surveillance and vector control measures are also being implemented.

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