Watery diarrhea outbreak in Sudan’s White Nile has killed 49 people, and left nearly 2,755 others sick, a top state official said.

White Nile Governor Abdulhamid Musa Kasha told parliamentarians in the Council of States in Khartoum on Tuesday that he cannot declare a state of emergency because it is not his mandate, saying they are waiting for the World Health Organization to declare the state of emergency.

He pointed out that there are more than 122,000 South Sudanese refugees in eight different locations, besides the 50,000 local populations who are at risk of contracting the disease.

Meanwhile, the Sudanese Doctors’ Association described the health situation in White Nile as dangerous and called on the Sudanese government to declare that officially.

According to a statement issued by the doctors’ association and seen by Radio Tamazuj on Wednesday, the average of new infections has reached 1,800 with 40 deaths.