2023 Sudanese tuberculosis outbreak

An ongoing outbreak of tuberculosis a infectious disease commonly known as "TB", was confirmed in May 2023.

In Sudan, along with over 34,000 cases in Ukraine, Sudan reported a huge surge in tuberculosis cases which had decreased significantly for the past few years.

Tuberculosis

Tuberculosis is spread from one person to the next through the air when people who have active TB in their lungs cough, spit, speak, or sneeze. People with Latent TB do not spread the disease. Active infection occurs more often in people with HIV/AIDS and in those who smoke.Diagnosis of active TB is based on chest X-rays, as well as microscopic examination and culture of body fluids. Diagnosis of Latent TB relies on the tuberculin skin test (TST) or blood tests.

Prevention of TB involves screening those at high risk, early detection and treatment of cases, and vaccination with the bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) vaccine. Those at high risk include household, workplace, and social contacts of people with active TB. Treatment requires the use of multiple antibiotics over a long period of time.Antibiotic resistance is a growing problem, with increasing rates of multiple drug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB).

Outbreak

War

In the early hours of the morning of 15 April 2023, Pro-Raid insurgents started a series of assaults on key buildings in Khartoum, primarily the Khartoum International Airport. During their attack on the airport, the RSF reportedly attacked a Saudi plane which was arriving at the airport, but no casualties have been reported among the passengers and crew. The armed forces and the insurgents were engaged in fierce fighting. The RSF also captured the presidential palace, the residence of the former Sudanese president Omar al-Bashir, and attacked a military base. Users on Facebook Live and Twitter documented the Sudanese Air Force flying above the city, and striking the RSF targets.

Disease

Tuberculosis, commonly known as TB, is an infectious disease usually caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can also affect other parts of the body. Most infections show no symptoms, in which case it is known as latent tuberculosis. Around 10% of latent infections progress to disease which, if left untreated, kill about half of those affected. Typical symptoms of TB are chronic cough with blood-containing mucus, fever, night sweats, and weight loss. It was historically referred to as consumption due to the weight loss associated with the disease.Infection of other organs can cause a wide range of symptoms.

Emergency

On 8 May 2023, the UN announced a significant outbreak of tuberculosis within Sudan and Ukraine, it announced that the disease was killing an estimated 4,400 people per day including 700 children. It confirmed at least 34,000 cases in Ukraine and huge amount in Sudan, which it didn't announce as of 8 May 2023.