Yemen cholera outbreak worsens – 100 000 cases, 789 deaths

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Cii Radio| Ayesha Ismail| 09 June 2017| 14 Ramadaan 1438

A cholera outbreak of more than 100 000 cases has erupted in war-ravaged Yemen, killing nearly 800 people in just over a month, says the World Health Organisation.

The UN health agency said on Thursday that since the end of April, 101 820 suspected cholera cases had been registered across 19 of the country’s 21 areas, including 789 deaths.

WHO has warned that a quarter of a million people could fall ill with cholera by the end of the year in Yemen, a country where two-thirds of the population are on the brink of famine.

British charity Oxfam on Thursday also voiced alarm at what it described as “a runaway cholera epidemic” in Yemen, pointing out that the disease is currently killing nearly one person every hour.

Cholera is a highly contagious bacterial infection spread through contaminated food or water.

Reining in the disease is particularly complicated in Yemen, where two years of devastating war has left more than half the country’s medical facilities out of service.

Yemen’s conflict has killed more than 8 000 people and wounded around 45 000 since March 2015, according to the WHO.
Source – News 24