UN: More than 100,000 cholera suspected cases recorded in Yemen in 2020
More than 110,000 cases of suspected cholera have been recorded across Yemen since January this year, with growing fears that the number of cases will spiral, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said on Friday.
“More heavy rains and thunderstorms are expected in the east and parts of the western coast, as well as in desert areas in Marib, Al Jawf, and Shabwah governorates,” OCHA warned.
According to OCHA, an estimated 21,240 families (148,680 people) have been affected by flooding in 13 governorates since mid-April. Conditions are hardest for thousands of families already displaced who have lost shelter, food rations and household supplies.
In late 2016, the world’s largest cholera epidemic swept Yemen, and at present more than 1.3 million suspected cases of cholera have been recorded. This, as well as other disease outbreaks, is the inevitable result of the ongoing conflict and fragile health system.
As of October 2018, there have been more than 1.2 million cases reported, and more than 2,500 people—58% children—have died in the Yemen cholera outbreak, which the United Nations deemed the worst humanitarian crisis in the world at that time. (ILKHA)