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Suspected cholera cases spikes in Yemen in 2019: UN
SANAA, March 25, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – Nearly 110,000 suspected cases of cholera
have been reported in war-hit Yemen since the beginning of January, including
190 related deaths, the UN said on Monday.
The UN office for humanitarian affairs (OCHA) said children under the age
of five make up nearly a third of 108,889 cases which were reported between
January 1 and March 17.
OCHA said the spike, which comes two years after Yemen suffered its worst
cholera outbreak, was concentrated in six governorates including in the Red
Sea port of Hodeida and the Sanaa province home to the capital.
Early rains could be blamed for the recent increase in suspected cholera
cases, it said.
“The situation is exacerbated by poor maintenance of sewage disposal
systems in many of the affected districts, the use of contaminated water for
irrigation, and population movements,” OCHA added.
The waterborne disease is endemic to Yemen, which witnessed the worst
cholera outbreak in its modern history in 2017.
More than one million suspected cases were reported within an eight-month
period that year. More than 2,500 people died of the infection between April
and December 2017.
Yemen’s brutal conflict, which pits Iran-linked rebels against a regional
pro-government alliance led by Saudi Arabia, has left some 10,000 people dead
since 2015 and pushed millions to the brink of famine.
The war has created the perfect environment for cholera to thrive, as
civilians across the country lack access to clean water and health care.
BSS/AFP/BZC/1825HRS