SANAA: A cholera outbreak in Yemen killed 25 people this week, the World Health Organisation said, as two years of war continues to wreak havoc on the country’s health and sanitation system.
The deaths from the diarrhoeal disease which is carried in food and water tainted by human faeces are among 1,360 cases that the United Nations agency reported since April 27. Some severe cases can kill within hours unless treated with intravenous fluids and antibiotics.
“(This) is extremely alarming. We are facing a reactivation of the cholera epidemic,” Nevio Zagaria, the WHO’s representative in Yemen, said.
“The cause is that there is two years of war in Yemen. There is a huge impact on the infrastructure, the electricity power is on and off, the water pumping stations are not functioning regularly and this has an impact on the quality of water.”
A previous outbreak subsided last winter, Zagaria said, and the country has experienced a total of around 27,000 cases including 130 deaths during the conflict. — AFP
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