A dual outbreak of measles and meningitis is sweeping through eastern Chad, driven by the massive influx of refugees fleeing Sudan’s civil war, Doctors Without Borders (MSF) warned on Thursday.
Disease Cases Skyrocket
In Adre, near the Sudanese border, measles cases jumped from 16 in January to 371 in March, with 161 more recorded in just the first half of April. Meningitis cases rose from 18 in January to 109 in March, and 101 by mid‑April.
“Every day, we see children arriving with severe measles, often complicated by pneumonia,” said MSF’s Isabelle Kavira, noting that meningitis wards are now nearly full.
Refugee Influx Overwhelms Health System
Since Sudan’s war erupted in April 2023, nearly one million people have crossed into Chad. Despite Chad closing its border in February after RSF incursions, the frontier remains porous, and families continue to arrive from areas where outbreaks are already active.
Overcrowded camps, scarce clean water, limited healthcare, and rising malnutrition — especially among children under five — have created ideal conditions for rapid disease transmission.
Vaccination Efforts Struggle to Keep Up
Chad’s health ministry, supported by MSF, has vaccinated:
- 95,500+ children against measles
- 337,800 people against meningitis
But MSF warns that cold‑chain failures, supply gaps, and weak routine immunization leave “entire populations exposed.” Reactive campaigns alone, they say, cannot contain the outbreaks.
A Growing Humanitarian Emergency
With camps overflowing and disease spreading faster than health services can respond, eastern Chad faces a worsening crisis — one directly tied to the ongoing war next door.