NPR News -Africa

October 4, 20242:03 AM ET
Women grieve at the port of Goma, Democratic Republic of Congo, after a ferry carrying hundreds capsized on arrival Thursday.

Moses Sawasawa/AP

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Moses Sawasawa/AP

GOMA, Congo — At least 78 people died when an overcrowded boat capsized on Lake Kivu in eastern Congo on Thursday, a local governor said. A frantic search and rescue operation was underway hours later as many remained unaccounted for from the vessel, believed to have had 278 people on board.
Jean-Jacques Purusi, the governor of the South Kivu province, said the death toll was provisional and that the number of fatalities could rise further. He said that according to the information that local authorities had, there were 278 people on board.

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Africa In Pictures: How one hospital is faring as Sudan’s health care system is devastated by warThe boat set off from the port of Minova, in South Kivu province, earlier in the day and was en route t..

October 3, 20246:25 PM ET
Enlarge this imageTwo women walk past a car destroyed by fighting, as seen through a car window, in Omdurman, Republic of the Sudan on September 5.

Luke Dray for NPR

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Luke Dray for NPR

Two women walk past a car destroyed by fighting, as seen through a car window, in Omdurman, Republic of the Sudan on September 5.

Luke Dray for NPR

Fighting between the Sudanese army and a paramilitary group have displaced some 12 million people in one of Africa’s biggest countries. Our correspondent travels to Sudan and gives us a glimpse of the devastation the war has caused.

October 3, 20244:27 PM ET
Doctors attempt to resuscitate a victim of shelling at the Al Nao Hospital in Omdurman, Republic of the Sudan on September 5. The victim was later pronounced dead.

Luke Dray for NPR

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Luke Dray for NPR

OMDURMAN, Sudan — A year and a half of war in Sudan has led to a humanitarian catastrophe in one of Africa’s largest countries. Up to 150,000 people have been killed, according to some estimates. The fighting has displaced 12 million people, according to the United Nations, which calls it the “largest displacement crisis in the world.” And medical services in much of Sudan have collapsed.
NPR spent three days reporting from one hospital in Omdurman, a city in Sudan’s capital region, to see the toll facing hospitals and medical staff.
Patients in a ward in the Al Nao Hospital in Omdurman, Republic of the Sudan.

Luke Dray for NPR

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Luke Dray for NPR

Fifty-two-year-old Dr. Ja..

In this 2014 photo, a Kenyan medical worker from the Infection Prevention and Control unit at a Nairobi hospital wears full gear when bringing a meal to a man in quarantine in isolation housing after coming into contact with a carrier of the Marburg virus.

Ben Curtis/AP

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Ben Curtis/AP

This story was updated on October 8 at 1:17 p.m.
Rwanda is now a test lab for an experimental vaccine against the Marburg virus.
The African nation is in the grips of one of the world’s largest Marburg outbreaks, with 56 cases and 12 deaths so far. Currently there is no approved vaccine or treatment for Marburg patients.
Rwandans are so nervous that Minister of Health Sabin Nsanzimana took time at a Sunday press conference to answer a frequently asked question: If a passenger on a motorcycle taxi uses the helmet provided by the driver, could they catch Marburg if the previous helmet user happened to be infected?

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His advice: “As a precaut..

In this 2014 photo, a Kenyan medical worker from the Infection Prevention and Control unit at a Nairobi hospital wears full gear when bringing a meal to a man in quarantine in isolation housing after coming into contact with a carrier of the Marburg virus.

Ben Curtis/AP

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Ben Curtis/AP

“Do not continue your daily activities” if you have a high fever, a severe headache, diarrhea or vomiting, urged Sabin Nsanzimana in a press conference this weekend.
If you are healthy, live life as normal and do “not panic,” he said. But those feeling sick must seek immediate medical attention.
Nsanzimana is Rwanda’s health minister — and his country is in the grips of its first-ever outbreak of the deadly Marburg virus.
The virus comes from fruit bats and is in the same family as the Ebola virus. There are no known treatments or vaccines, although supportive care like IV fluids is helpful. The death rate can be as high as 88%.

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Wi..

September 27, 20243:41 AM ET

Sudan’s army launched a major offensive in Khartoum in a bid to regain the capital. The paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, or RSF, have been in control of the capital for over a year.

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September 25, 20242:36 PM ET
One of the women who’s brought her baby to the malnutrition clinic in Farchana. They’re sitting under mosquito nets.

Claire Harbage/NPR

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Claire Harbage/NPR

The civil war in Sudan has caused the largest displacement crisis in the world. More than 10 million people have fled their homes. Over 2 million of them have gone to neighboring countries, including 600,000 who have headed to Chad, where more refugees arrive every day. In some places, the Sudanese refugees nearly outnumber locals. Food and water were already scarce in Chad because of the arid climate and recurrentdroughts. Resources are strained — and humanitarian aid organizations aren’t able to keep up with the needs of the refugees. NPR’s Fatma Tanis spent the past week reporting from eastern Chad and spoke to Ari Shapiro of All Things Consideredand Leila Fadel of Morning Edition about what she’s seen.
People cross the border between Sudan and Adr&eac..

September 25, 20244:02 AM ET

Hundreds of thousands of Sudanese, fleeing civil war, arrive in Chad hoping for safety and food. What they find, however, is there just isn’t much food. Many refugees are suffering from malnutrition.

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September 21, 20247:44 AM ET

Tens of thousands of Sudanese have fled civil war and are crossing into Chad for safety. At the border, we hear from people — mostly women — on what they’ve seen and experienced that forced them to leave.

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September 19, 20245:45 PM ET

Hundreds of thousands of Sudanese refugees have fled to Chad, where they’re facing increasingly difficult conditions as their presence strains local resources and humanitarian aid organizations.

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