GENEVA: Yemen could have as many as 300,000 cases of cholera within six months and an “extremely high” number of deaths, the World Health Organization said on Friday.
“We need to expect something that could go up to 200,000-250,000 cases over the next six months, in addition to the 50,000 cases that have already occurred,” Nevio Zagaria.
WHO Yemen representative, told reporters in Geneva by phone.
The cost in lives from this will be will be “extremely, extremely high”, he said.
The epidemic began in October 2016 and grew until December.
It dwindled but was never fully under control, Zagaria said, and new cases had arisen with the rainy season, worsened by the collapse of the economy and the health system.
The outbreak has caused 23,425 cases in 18 of Yemen’s 23 governorates since April 27, and 242 people have died, he said.
That misleadingly suggested a case fatality rate of about 1 per cent, with the true rate more likely 4-5 per cent, he said, adding that the latest data had taken health experts by surprise.
“The speed of the resurgence of the cholera epidemic is unprecedented (for Yemen).”
— Reuters
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