national public health laboratory crisis national public health laboratory crisis a crisis at the national public health laboratory in khartoum, sudan, started after it was seized by armed forces during the sudan conflict in april 2023. the world health organization (who) said on 25 april 2023 that technicians had been expelled from the laboratory and were no longer able to access it. 2023 sudan conflictprelude war in darfur sudanese revolution 2021 sudan coup d'état battles khartoum laboratory crisis sudan central bank darfur campaign geneina nyala el fasher merowe humanitarian crisis humanitarian impact refugee crisis forced deportation of eritreans evacuation of foreign nationals india germany other timeline military engagements background a conflict in sudan began on 15 april 2023 following clashes between the paramilitary rapid support forces and the sudanese armed forces. fighting was reported across sudan, including in the capital khartoum where the national public health laboratory is located. crisis the laboratory contains polio, measles and cholera isolates. the who's representative in sudan, dr nima saeed abid, said that "there is a huge biological risk associated with the occupation of the central public health lab in khartoum by one of the fighting parties." the who also warned that power outages were risking the containment of biological material and the storage of blood products. shahinaz bedri, the director of the laboratory, said "several days ago, armed groups entered the lab, ordered our security staff who are trained to handle emergencies to leave. we are worried that there might be a bio-risk for them if they open fridges, because they go in and they sabotage."