Since our last report on the cholera epidemic in Yemen Sunday, an additional 3000 suspected cases were recorded, bringing the outbreak total to more than 32,300 cases in 25 days.

Image/CDC
Image/CDC

The death toll has risen to 332. Health authorities in Yemen confirmed a cholera outbreak on 6 October 2016.

The World Health Organization (WHO) announced yesterday that more than 22 tons of medical supplies including cholera tests, insulin and TB drugs on its way to the port city of Aden.

In addition, WHO supports Yemen’s health authorities to provide free-of-charge health services for patients with diarrhea to remove financial barriers.

The two-year conflict has pushed Yemen to the brink of famine and plunged the country into one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises, with widespread severe acute malnutrition among children. Two thirds of the population use unsafe water.

Health care facilities are struggling to cope with the volume of patients – many of them children – amid shortages of medical supplies and clean water.

Salaries for health care and sanitation workers haven’t been paid for more than seven months.

Cholera is an acute diarrheal infection caused by ingestion of food or water contaminated with the bacterium Vibrio cholerae. Most of those infected will have no or mild symptoms but, in severe cases, the disease can kill within hours if left untreated.

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