GENEVA (Reuters) - The top U.N. humanitarian official on Friday voiced concern about the spread of violence in Sudan and said a lasting conflict could tip the entire region into "humanitarian catastrophe".

"This viral conflict and the hunger, disease and displacement left in its wake now threatens to consume the entire country," said Martin Griffiths in a statement sent to journalists on Friday, mentioning specific concerns about the safety of civilians in the country's breadbasket Gezira State.

"Hundreds of thousands of children are severely malnourished and at imminent risk of death if left untreated," he added.

(Reporting by Emma Farge, editing by Kirsti Knolle)