Yemen Cholera Cases Surpass 300,000 - WHO

The number of suspected cases of cholera in Yemen has surpassed 300,000 in just 75 days, the United Nations announced on Monday.

The unprecedented outbreak of the disease is also associated with 1,700 deaths in the country.

Cholera is present in more than 90 per cent of all districts in Yemen and in all but one of the country's 22 governorates.

Meanwhile, the World Health Organization (WHO) and its partners are scaling up efforts to minimize the spread of acute watery diarrhoea and cholera in the Eastern Mediterranean region, which covers 21 countries, including Yemen.

The UN agency said population movements are increasing the risk of disease in unaffected areas.

For example, a cholera outbreak in Somalia has spread to the north which had been cholera-free for more than a decade.

While, acute watery diarrhoea and cholera are easily treatable, WHO warned that they can be life-threatening without immediate medical care.

UN Radio/GBC