Yemen’s 5-month old cholera crisis is now the world’s largest outbreak since records began, Oxfam International said today as the number of suspected cases rose to over 755 000. From August 25 until September 27, there has been an average of 5 750 daily cases, so at this rate, the number of suspected cholera cases will reach one million in less than eight weeks. The Yemen outbreak has overtaken the 754 373 suspected cases recorded in Haiti in the six years between 2010 and 2015. Over 2 100 people have already died from cholera, and while the spread of cholera has slowed slightly, it is still spreading fast
and at current rates of increase, the number of suspected cases would reach a million by November. While cholera isn’t new to Yemen, the scale of this outbreak is unprecedented and is being driven by a two-and-a-half year conflict, a borderline famine, and entrenched poverty. Over half of all health facilities are destroyed or only partially working, seven million people are a step away from famine and over 20 million need some level of humanitarian aid. “Yemen is the world’s worst humanitarian crisis and it is getting even worse. More than two years of war have created ideal conditions for the disease to spread. READ MORE
