New Cholera Outbreak as Rainy Season Begins, in Yemen

YemenExtra

SH.A.

Yemen’s rainy season will likely trigger another wave of cholera, putting millions at risk in the war-torn country, which is still reeling from one of the world’s worst outbreaks of the killer disease, scientists warned on Thursday.

More than 1 million suspected cases of cholera have been reported in Yemen since 2016, killing more than 2,000 people.

The rainy season runs from mid-April to the end of August.

The daily number of cholera cases increased 100-fold in the first four weeks of last year’s rainy season, leading to the disease spreading across the whole country, the study said.

The outbreak has been exacerbated by the Saudi-led war, which has destroyed Yemen’s health services and water supplies, displaced over two million people and driven the country to the brink of famine. Saudi Arabia’s years-long siege on the country’s main air and seaports has also led to a severe shortage of medicines.

According to the United Nations, some 22 million of Yemen’s 25 million population need humanitarian assistance.