Fighting in Sudan: WHO concerned about seizure of lab containing ‘highly contagious pathogens’

The World Health Organization (WHO) considers the biological risk “enormous”. The authority said on Tuesday that a laboratory in Khartoum, Sudan’s capital, where samples of highly contagious pathogens have been found, has been occupied by gunmen.

Fighting broke out in the East African country in mid-April when an army group, the paramilitaries of General Mohamed Hamdan Daglo, attempted to seize power from General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan. According to the WHO, almost 459 people have already died and 4,072 have been injured as a result of the fighting, but they cannot confirm this data from the Ministry of Health. The two camps agreed on Monday a 72-hour truce under the auspices of the United States, which was generally respected on Tuesday in Khartoum.

“Yesterday I got a call from the head of the central public health laboratory. It is occupied by one of the belligerents,” said Dr. Nima Saeed Abid, WHO Representative in Sudan, during a video conference during a press briefing in Geneva. He did not specify whether it was General al-Burhein’s army or paramilitaries. “They kicked out all the technicians from the lab, which is now completely under the control of one of the warring parties,” which is using it as a military base, said Dr. Nima Saeed Abid.

He stressed that the situation is “extremely dangerous” as samples of the pathogens for measles, cholera and polio are stored in this national laboratory. Cholera is an acute diarrheal disease that can kill people within hours if left untreated. Measles is a highly contagious viral disease, like polio, which mainly affects children under 5 years of age. Thus, this occupation represents “an enormous biological risk,” he insisted.

Catastrophic humanitarian situation

In addition to this occupation, the fighting has worsened the already dire humanitarian situation in the Sudan. Some 15.8 million people, about a third of the population, were in need of humanitarian assistance prior to the outbreak of hostilities.

So far, WHO has been able to confirm that the country’s health sector has been hit by 14 attacks, resulting in 8 deaths and 2 injuries. In addition, the country is running out of blood bags and the lack of generators poses very high biological risks, in addition to “chemical risks,” the organization also said.

The clashes prevent aid organizations with a strong presence in the country from doing their jobs. According to Jens Laerke, spokesman for the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (Ocha) in Geneva, five aid workers have already been killed. The latter explained that the population was “on the edge of the abyss”. “Yesterday we heard new reports of the looting of humanitarian materials and warehouses,” he added. “We are in the process of establishing a center in Port Sudan from where a group of UN staff will lead humanitarian operations in the country,” he explained.

Thousands of refugees

As countries around the world repatriate their citizens, the situation is forcing many Sudanese to leave the country. The United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) said up to 270,000 people could flee to Chad and South Sudan. According to Laura Lo Castro, the UNHCR representative in Chad, 2,000 refugees have already arrived in this country. “In the worst case, we expect up to 100,000 refugees,” she said.

Many South Sudanese refugees who were in Sudan (about 800 thousand, according to the UN) could go the other way. “In South Sudan, the most likely scenario is the return of 125,000 refugees from South Sudan and 45,000 refugees,” said Marie-Helene Verneuil, UNHCR Representative in the country. To date, UNHCR has recorded the arrival of almost 4,000 South Sudanese, mostly through the Renk border crossing in Upper Nile State.

“Now we need humanitarian coordination,” said Patrick Youssef, director of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) for the African region. He also urged the international community not only to worry about evacuating its citizens, but to continue to apply pressure to help the country find a “long-term solution” to the crisis.