Sudan to deploy mobile labs as meningitis cases emerge

April 28, 2026 (KHARTOUM) – Sudan’s health ministry will deploy mobile laboratories to Khartoum, Al Jazirah, and Gedaref states next week to train medical staff on identifying meningitis following seven confirmed cases in seven days, the ministry said on Tuesday.

The move comes as the bacterial infection, which causes inflammation of the membranes surrounding the brain and spinal cord, typically spreads during the summer months due to rising temperatures. Bacterial meningitis is considered a medical emergency.

The ministry’s Emergency Operations Centre said the three mobile units, supported by the finance ministry and the World Health World Organization, would begin field deployment on Saturday as part of the 2026 meningitis response.

The laboratories will focus on intensive training for hospital staff on case definitions, lumbar puncture techniques for sample collection, and rapid testing to ensure immediate diagnosis.

Between April 18 and 25, seven cases were recorded in Khartoum and Al Jazirah states, with no deaths reported.

The regional threat of the disease is underscored by the situation in neighbouring Chad. Medical aid group Medecins Sans Frontieres said on April 23 that cases of deadly meningitis are surging in eastern Chad, killing nearly 12% of children who catch it in an area housing hundreds of thousands of war refugees from Sudan.

Sudan’s healthcare system, crippled by funding shortages and a brain drain exacerbated by three years of conflict, is currently battling multiple outbreaks, including malaria, dengue fever, and cholera.

While dengue fever rates have declined in most states, cases are rising in the River Nile state. Malaria infections are also increasing in Khartoum, Al Jazirah, the Northern state, and the River Nile state.

Health officials reported 129 cumulative cases of Hepatitis E in Al Jazirah and Blue Nile states.

The ministry highlighted the continued influx of refugees and displaced persons into Gedaref, White Nile, Kassala, and South Kordofan as a major challenge to disease control, particularly where international aid activities are irregular.

Federal Health Minister Haitham Mohamed Ibrahim has called for new mechanisms to combat dengue fever and urged the use of ongoing polio vaccination campaigns to spread public health awareness.